-pROPERff^ 

PHIKCETOH 
nnU  iitp   1880 


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OCCASIONAL    SERMONS 


ADDRESSES. 


OCCASIONAL    SERMONS 


ADDRESSES. 


SAMUEL  w. Wisher,  d.d., 

PRESIDENT     OF     UA  MILTON     COLLEGE. 


NEW     YORK: 

5   AND    7    MERCER    STREET. 
18  6  0. 


Entered,  aceording  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18C0, 

By  mason  r. rotiiees. 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Conit  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


8  T  i:  R  i:  o  T  T  1'  r.  i>    by 

T.    B.    SMITH    &    SON, 

82  &  84  Beekman-st.,  N.  Y. 


pniNTi:i)    HT 

C.  A.  ALVOKD, 

IR  Vundewafor-Btreet  N.  Y, 


TO    THE    ALUMNI     AND    FRIENDS 


H^^MIITjTOlSr       COLI^mGE^ 


PROMOTERS  OF   CHRISTIAN   SCHOLARSHIP, 


THIS    VOLUME 


RELIGIOUS     AND     EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES 


MOST    CORDIALLY    AND    RESPECTFULLY 


INSCRI-BKD. 


PREFACE. 


A  number  of  the  discourses  contained  in  this 
volume  have  been  previously  in  print.  In  publishing 
them  with  others  the  author  has  yielded  to  the  request 
of  friends,  in  whose  judgment  he  has  entire  confidence. 
In  this  more  permanent  form  it  is  hoped  they  may 
subserve  the  interests  of  education  and  true  religion. 
The  titles  and  the  occasions  on  which  they  were  deliv- 
ered will  sufficiently  indicate  their  character.  The 
author  regrets  that  the  pressure  of  public  duties  has 
not  permitted  him  to  give  to  these  pages  that  thorough 
revision  which  would  render  the  volume  more  worthy 
the  attention  of  those  who  take  an  interest  in  these 
discussions. 
» 

Uamilton  College,  Dec,    1859. 


CONTENTS. 

EDUCATIONAL    DISCOURSES. 
I. 

COLLEGIATE  EDUCATION 15 

II. 
THEOLOGICAL   TRAINING 46 

III. 
FEMALE    EDUCATION 82 

IV. 

THE  THREE  STAGES  OF  EDUCATION 117 

LITERARY    ADDRESSES. 

V. 
THE  SUPREMACY  OF  MIND 145 

VL 

SECULAR  AND  CHRISTIAN  CIVILIZATION 171 


X  CONTENTS. 

VII. 

pa(;e 
OBSTACLES  AND  ENCOURAGEMENTS  TO  MISSIONARY  EFFORT 

IN  THE  ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  CHURCH 210 


VIII. 

NATURAL      SCIENCE     IN     ITS      RELATIONS     TO     ART    AND 

THEOLOGY 238 


HISTORICAL  DISCOURSES   AND   ESSAYS. 

IX. 
JOHN  CALVIN 273 

X. 

WILLIAM  PENN 341 


XL 

JOHN  CALVIN  AND  JOHN  WESLEY 376 


XII. 

HISTORY,  THE  UNFOLDING  OP  GOD'S  PROVIDENCE 41 :5 


CONTENTS.  Xi 

OCCASIONAL    SERMONS, 
xin.' 

FASU 

CONFLICT  A2^D  REST  IN  THE  CHURCH 437 

XIV. 
PRESBYTERr 487 

XV. 
BACCALAUREATE   DISCOURSE ', 525 

XVI. 
THE  FINANCIAL  CRISLS 660 


EDUCATIONAL    DISCOURSES. 


I. 

COLLEGIATE    EDUCATION. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  : 

Your  election  to  the  high  otiice  into  which  you  have 
this  day  inducted  me,  is  a  sufficient  declaration  of  your  con- 
fidence in  the  soundness  of  my  views  on  the  subject  of  Colle- 
giate Education.  Yet,  called  as  I  have  been  from  another 
position  in  some  respects  unlike  this,  where,  amidst  the  in- 
tense activities  and  earnest  life  of  a  great  city,  it  has  been  my 
privilege  to  preach  the  gospel ;  it  is  fitting  that  on  this  occa- 
sion I  should  shadow  forth  those  principles  which  seem  to  me 
to  constitute  a  truly  Christian  education.  I  say  Christian 
education  ;  for,  although  the  Presidency  of  this  Institution 
differs  in  some  things  from  the  pastorship  of  a  church,  yet  it 
is  only  as  a  Christian  minister,  carrying  into  this  new  posi- 
tion the  same  high  aims  which  belong  to  such  a  ministry,  and 
seeking,  by  all  fit  means  to  bring  the  gospel  to  bear  in  its 
purifying  power  upon  the  hearts  of  these  young  men,  that  I 
could  consent  to  take  it  upon  me.  With  that  education  which 
limits  its  aims  to  this  world,  which  rejects  the  grand  motive 
forces  drawn  from  the  life  to  come,  I  have  no  sympathy.  It 
is  as  a  Christian  minister,  regarding  his  office  as  the  noblest 
and  most  effective  for  good,  far  above  all  mere  presidencies 
and  offices  of  secular  trust,  however  exalted  in  the  world's 
view,  that  I  appear  here  to-day. 

Viewing  the  post  to  which  you  have  called  me,  as  furnish- 
ing prospectively  one  of  the  finest  fields  for  the  exercise  of 

*  Delivered  at  the  inauguration  of  the  author  as  the   sixth  President   of 
Hamilton  College,  at  Clinton,  New  York,  Thursday,  November  4,  1858. 


16  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

the  best  talents  of  the  minister  of  Jesus  ;  where,  in  the 
training  of  those  who  are  to  be  leaders  in  the  State  and  the 
Church,  all  the  resources  of  study  and  the  results  of  a  large 
experience  in  the  busy  scenes  of  life,  might  be  made  avail- 
able, I  have  felt  its  responsibilities  and  yielded  to  its  claims. 
Education  loses  its  chief  dignity,  its  noblest  end  and  bright- 
est light  are  neglected  and  quenched,  when  its  relation  to  the 
grander  future  of  the  soul  is  either  despised  or  subordinated 
to  the  interests  of  this  life.  And  if  on  this  occasion,  while 
speaking  on  so  trite,  and  yet  so  ever  fresh  a  subject  as  educa- 
tion, I  should  dwell  more  fully  than  has  been  usual,  on  its 
relation  to  man's  higher  interests  ;  you  will  find  my  apology, 
if  any  such  be  needed,  in  the  importance  of  this  relation  to 
the  whole  sphere  of  College  life. 

Education,  as  to  its  subject,  divides  itself  naturally  into 
the  pliysical,  the  intellectual,  the  spiritual.  The  body  is  in 
one  aspect  the  temple,  in  another  the  agent,  in  another  still 
an  organic  force  of  the  soul.  Its  form  so  erect,  its  structure 
so  exquisite,  its  adaptations  so  manifold,  fit  it  for  these  pur- 
poses, and  give  it  dignity  and  importance.  So  powerfully 
does  its  condition  in  consequence  of  its  mysterious  relation  to 
the  soul,  modify  the  manifestations  of  the  latter  that  it  can 
not  well  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  training  of  the  man.  We 
may  not  fully  understand  the  relation,  but  the  results  of  it 
are  broadly  manifest.  The  finest  intellectual  culture  is  dearly 
bought  at  the  cost  of  shattered  nerves  and  a  broken  constitu- 
tion. There  is  indeed  a  much  more  intimate  connection  be- 
tween the  highest  efforts  of  mind  and  a  sound  constitution, 
than  we  are  ordinarily  ready  to  admit.  We  discourse  of  the 
superiority  of  the  soul  to  the  body,  until  we  half  persuade 
ourselves  the  one  is  almost  complete  without  the  other.  We 
call  up  instances  of  men  who,  like  Calvin,  with  a  feeble  frame 
have  undergone  prodigious  intellectual  labor  ;  but  we  forget 
how  these  very  men  have  generally  died  before  their  time  : 
we  forget  how  many  minds  have  been  crippled  and  rendered 
useless  by  ill  health  :  we  mark  the  exceptions  and  lose  sight 
of  the  rule.     The   steam  is  useless  unless   vour  boiler  be 


COLLEGIATE  EDUCATION.  17 

stanch  ;  'your  mental  culture  will  never  qualify  you  for  pro- 
tracted and  liigli-wrought  thought,  unless  you  have  physical 
stamina  to  sustain  you  in  the  effort.  There  is  nothing  that 
so  tasks  the  jDower  of  endurance  as  the  incessant  mental  toil 
required  of  most  of  our  professional  and  educated  men  ;  and 
he  who  comes  forth  to  his  work  with  a  hale  constitution  has 
an  advantage  inestimable  above  his  feeble  and  broken  com- 
peer. It  was  due  largely  to  his  high  health  and  strong 
constitution,  established  by  early  toil,  that  Washington  bore 
up  the  burden  of  so  immense  a  responsibility,  for  so  many 
years  of  public  life.  It  was  his  early  drill  in  the  army  that 
imparted  to  him  whose  illustrious  name  this  Institution 
bears,  the  vital  force  that  sustained  him  in  his  gigantic  la- 
bors, which  while  they  won  the  gratitude  of  a  nation,  gave 
him  the  highest  seat  among  the  great  intellects  of  the  Revo- 
lution. And  hence,  too,  it  is,  that  the  country-bred  youth, 
accustomed  to  ride,  and  hunt,  and  swing  the  ax,  do  most 
generally  carry  the  day,  even  in  the  strife  of  intellect,  over 
the  youth  bred  in  cities  and  reared  in  the  hot-house  atmos- 
phere of  their  superficial  and  ephemeral  excitements.  Now 
the  college  receives  the  youth  just  at  the  time  when  he  is  ris- 
ing rapidly  to  the  full  stature  of  tlie  man  ;  he  attains  the 
growth,  he  ripens  into  the  maturity  of  manhood  during  these 
years  ;  and  while  in  this  process,  it  is  of  the  last  importance 
he  should  enjoy  that  physical  training  which  shall  knit  his 
frame,  expand  his  lungs,  give  erectness  to  his  form,  litheness 
to  his  limbs,  toughness  to  his  sinews,  and  solid  fullness  to  liis 
brain.  It  is  not  that  he  may  run  or  wrestle,  or  row  in 
Olympic  games  ;  we  care  not  for  these  crowns  that  perish 
ere  the  garments  of  the  victor  are  laid  aside  ;  it  i.s  that  he 
who  has  gained  this  sinewy  toughness  may  bear  up  like  a  man 
under  the  greater  struggles  of  after  life  :  that  he  may  not  be 
compelled  to  carry  the  burden  of  an  enfeebled  constitution, 
when  he  needs  all  his  powers  for  the  higher  work  before  him  : 
we  would  send  him  forth  from  these  Halls  a  man,  full  of 
vital  energy  which  braves  danger,  which  laughs  at  difficul- 
ties, which  rejoices  in  labor — a  man  with  all  the  refinement 

2 


18  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

of  an  Attic  culture  crowning  the  vigor  of  a  Spartan  disci- 
pline. 

To  effect  this  object,  various  methods  have  been  employed. 
It  is  now  some  years,  since  the  plan  of  combining  systematic 
manual  labor  with  mental  culture  was  attempted  in  this  coun- 
try on  a  large  scale.  The  results  of  this  experiment  are  not 
such  as  to  commend  it  for  general  adoption.  The  working  of 
it  revealed  two  fatal  defects.  The  system  of  labor,  to  be  suc- 
cessful, demands  so  much  time  and  interest  and  energy  as 
practically  to  break  in  upon  and  injure  the  system  of  study 
it  was  designed  to  invigorate.  The  servant  thus  became  the 
master :  the  inferior  object  thrust  aside  the  superior — nor  was 
this  all :  the  student  needed  recreation  ;  he  was  put  to  what 
shortly  became  drudgery :  he  wanted  something  that  should 
have  the  interest  and  lightness  of  j^lay  ;  he  was  made  to  work. 
The  brain  demanded  refreshment,  the  body  exercise  :  there 
was  in  the  system,  exercises  for  the  one,  but  nothing  to  give 
sj)ring,  elasticity,  and  life  to  the  other.  In  some  institutions, 
the  daily  military  drill  answers  an  important  purpose.  It 
gives  erectness  to  the  form,  expansion  to  the  chest,  precision 
to  the  movements,  and  a  manly  bearing.  But  even  this,  when 
made  prominent,  becomes  shortly  mechanical,  and  loses  its 
power  to  divert  the  mind. 

At  the  present  day,  the  gymnasium  has  risen  into  an  almost 
necessary  institution — combining  in  itself  a  great  variety  of 
exercise,  it  answers  largely  the  purpose  of  developing  all  the 
forces  of  the  body,  and  giving  play  and  elasticity  to  the  intel- 
lect. Doubtless  a  combination  of  this  with  the  occasional 
military  drill  and  the  out-door  sports  of  summer,  would  most 
effectually  impart  a  fine  muscular  development,  power  of  en- 
durance, and  an  open,  manly  bearing.  Situated  as  we  are — 
the  college  crowning  the  hill,  the  village  resting  in  this  inter- 
vale, amidst  this  bracing  atmosphere — the  students  of  this 
Institution  find  much  of  their  recreation  in  the  invigorating 
exercise  which  their  position  compels.  In  their  eftbrts  to 
ascend  the  hill  of  science,  they  are  aided  not  a  little  by  the 
health  and  vigor  gained  in  the  ascent  of  another  hill  less  ideal, 


COLLEGIATE     EDUCATION.  19 

from  whose  summit  the  eye  looks  out  upon  a  landscape  of 
rare  beauty  and  wide  extent. 

In  considering  education  with  respect  to  the  culture  of  the 
mind,  I  propose  to  unfold  what  constitutes  the  prominent 
character  of  our  collegiate  system.  We  have  just  as  truly  an 
American  Collegiate  system,  as  we  have  a  peculiar  system  of 
law,  of  government,  or  a  peculiar  form  of  national  life.  Based 
originally  upon  that  of  the  English  University,  it  has  grown 
up  in  harmony  with  our  circumstances  :  it  has  been  modified 
by  the  life  of  our  people.  It  may  be  in  some  respects  imper- 
fect ;  it  is  doubtless,  even  in  our  oldest  colleges,  behind  the 
most  celebrated  universities  of  tHe  old  world  ;  yet  such  as  it 
is,  it  is  our  own,  conformed  to  the  genius  of  our  institutions, 
pervaded  largely  by  their  spirit  and  ministering  most  effec- 
tually to  their  support.  It  is  not  the  academy  ;  it  is  not  the 
university  ;  it  is  simply  the  college.  It  is  neither  originally 
popular,  as  are  the  common  school  and  academy  ;  nor  is  it 
specific,  as  is  the  case  with  institutions  limited  to  one  or  two 
departments  of  knowledge  ;  nor  is  it  designed,  as  in  the  higher 
course  of  the  university,  to  carry  the  education  to  the  most 
elevated  point  in  all  the  special  divisions  of  science. 

I  can  not  well  unfold  the  true  genius  of  the  American  sys- 
tem of  collegiate  education,  without  describing  the  objects  at 
which  it  aims.  These  are  threefold.  1st.  It  seeks  to  exer- 
cise, to  strengthen  and  harmoniously  develop  all  the  powers 
of  the  intellect.  The  mind  has  its  capacities,  which  must  be 
put  forth  into  action  before  they  ripen  into  strong  forces. 
The  same  process  of  downright  effort,  which  ministers  growth 
and  fullness  to  the  other  powers  of  manhood,  is  equally  essen- 
tial here.  This  intellect  is  capable  of  holding  in  its  memory 
facts,  laws,  ideas,  words,  associations  without  limit ;  but  un- 
less you  put  it  to  the  task  of  doing  this  work,  unless  you 
select  and  direct  the  things  which  it  shall  treasure  up,  and 
teach  it  how  to  arrange  them  in  such  order  as  to  be  ready  for 
after  use,  the  memory  remains  either  an  undeveloped  capacity, 
or  a  storehouse  of  what  is  insignificant  and  trivial,  or  a  mere 
collection  of  loose  and  disjointed  material.     The  youth  has 


20  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

tlie  capacity  of  comparing,  of  contrasting,  of  judging  "between 
things  similar,  and  opposite  ;  but  if  you  give  to  that  latent 
power  no  fit  exercise,  or  no  fit  subjects  on  which  to  exercise 
itself,  it  remains  feeble,  or  incapable  of  determining  what  is 
true  on  the  most  important  themes.  He  has  the  ability  dor- 
mant within  him  of  abstracting  his  mind  from  outward  things 
and  fixing  it  steadily  upon  one  subject ;  of  analysis  ;  of  re- 
composition  and  deduction  ;  but  this  ability  must  be  made 
available  and  real  by  long  and  steady  exercise.  Justly  to 
analyze,  or  rightly  to  gather  up  conclusions  from  various  par- 
ticulars is  the  resultant  of  a  thorough  process  of  development. 
So  the  imagination  must  be  chastened  and  enlarged  in  its 
range  :  the  love  of  the  beautiful  cultivated  and  refined  ;  and 
the  power  of  just  criticism  developed. 

Now  the  college  takes  the  youth  after  the  school  and  the 
academy  have  trained  him  in  the  elementary  studies  :  at  a 
time  when  the  reflective  powers  begin  to  open  freely  :  when 
with  coming  manhood,  childish  things  cease  to  interest,  and 
the  soul  aspires  to  put  forth  its  undeveloped  powers  in  those 
directions  which  lead  to  high  attainments.  Just  at  this 
period,  we  seek  to  give  this  germinant  intellect  the  exercise 
it  needs  to  reveal  all  its  secret  energies.  "VVe  aim  not  to  stim- 
ulate and  work  it  in  one  or  two  directions  ;  but  to  furnish 
that  varied  round  of  labor  which  will  give  to  all  its  powers  an 
harmonious  and  symmetrical  unfolding.  For,  as  in  the  finest 
gymnastics  of  the  body,  neither  the  hand  alone,  nor  the  eye, 
nor  the  chest,  nor  the  limbs,  but  all  together  are  disciplined 
and  made  eflective  ;  so  in  the  gymnastics  of  the  mind,  neither 
the  power  of  language  alone,  nor  the  power  of  intuition,  nor 
the  power  of  mere  reasoning,  nor  the  imagination,  but  all  of 
them  find  something  to  stimulate,  to  invigorate,  to  unfold. 
It  usually  hap2)ens  that  minds  vary  much  in  their  aptitude 
for  difierent  studies.  It  is  rare  that  the  original  forces  are 
graduated  so  as  to  touch  at  once  all  parts  of  a  circle.  One 
masters  easily  the  pure  mathematics,  while  he  remembers  and 
analyzes  with  difiiculty  a  sentence  in  Tacitus.  One  ascends 
spontaneously  into  the  regions  of  imagination — a  nature  full 


COLLEGIATE     EDUCATION.  21 

of  poetry — to  whom  the  resolution  of  his  own  mental  and 
moral  powers  is  a  task  and  drudgery.  Now  instead  of  humor- 
ing these  several  aptitudes  at  the  first,  and  so  increasing  the 
natural  disproportion,  and  leaving  the  mind  without  a  capa- 
city developed  in  any  other  direction  ;  we  would  have  the 
youth  wait  until  the  time  comes  for  the  choice  of  a  profession 
in  which  to  indulge,  if  he  should  so  choose,  the  natural  bent 
of  his  intellect. 

Meanwhile  we  will  teach  the  mathematician  how  to  mas- 
ter language  :  we  will  chasten  the  poetic  imagination  by  the 
drill  of  abstract  science  :  we  will  assist  the  man  of  verbal 
memory  to  go  through  difficult  processes  of  reasoning :  we 
will  endeavor  to  cultivate  in  all  the  power  of  profound  reflec- 
tion and  just  discrimination,  so  that  wdien  they  go  forth  into 
life,  it  will  not  be  with  a  partial — a  distorted — a  one-sided 
intellect — a  mind  that  has  ability  only  in  one  line,  and  is 
prevented  by  its  very  training  from  advancing  in  any  other. 
The  system  of  collegiate  discipline  thus  seeks  to  give  breadth, 
solidity,  proportion  to  all  the  powers.  It  seeks  to  jDrepare  a 
man  to  enter  upon  the  special  training  that  belongs  to  each 
profession,  Avith  a  mind  so  exercised  and  informed  as  to  be 
effective,  according  to  its  original  endowments,  in  that  or  any 
other  direction.  It  does  not  contemplate  making  this  man  a 
Grecian,  that  one  a  Mathematician,  another  one  a  Khetori- 
cian,  a  Surveyor,  or  Astronomer.  It  leaves  these  special  at- 
tainments for  after  study — individual  choice.  It  supposes 
that  the  Grecian,  the  Mathematician  and  the  Rhetorician 
will  be  vastly  more  accomplished  as  scholars,  and  not  at  all 
less  accomplished  in  the  specialities  they  have  chosen,  by 
having  thoroughly  mastered  the  entire  circle  of  college  studies. 
And  hence  it  obliges  them  all,  during  this  stage  of  their  train- 
ing, to  test  their  capacity  and  discipline  their  powers  in  all 
directions  :  confident  that  from  so  varied  and  thorough  a 
course  they  will  come  forth  stronger  and  better  proportioned 
minds  :  better  fitted  for  the  general  work  of  life,  or  to  mnke 
large  attainments  and  push  themselves  with  greatest  success 
in  some  one  department.     This  thorough  discipline  of  all  the 


22  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

mental  powers,  is  fundamental  to  an  American  system  of  col- 
legiate education.  This  is  its  first  great  idea.  It  builds  a 
broad  foundation,  solid  and  true,  on  which  the  structure  of  a 
profession  may  be  afterwards  reared. 

Let  us  now  advance  to  a  second  characteristic  of  this  sys- 
tem. It  aims  to  teach  the  true  method  of  science,  lohile  it 
familiarizes  the  mind  loith  the  general  principles  that  wider- 
lie  it.  It  is  not  enough  merely  to  exercise  the  mental  facul- 
ties. They  should  be  developed  along  the  line  of  truth  :  they 
should  be  taught  how  to  master  the  problems  that  meet  us  : 
the  mind  should  be  inducted  into  the  method  of  successful 
investigation.  This  mind  may  be  endowed  with  splendid 
powers  ;  and  yet  if  it  know  not  the  way  in  which  the  highest 
results  may  be  reached,  the  very  greatness  of  these  abilities 
will  only  facilitate  its  progress  in  error.  "  The  lame,"  says 
Bacon,  "  in  the  j^ath  outstrip  the  swift  who  wander  from  it ; 
and  it  is  clear  that  the  very  skill  and  swiftness  of  him  who 
runs  not  in  the  right  direction,  must  increase  his  abeiTation." 
It  is  he  who  holds  in  his  hand  the  clue  who  is  able  most  suc- 
cessfully to  explore  the  labyrinth.  The  grander  the  genius 
the  greater  his  error,  if  he  know  not  the  path  in  which  truth 
must  be  sought.  He  may  have  vast  learning  and  spend  years 
in  elaborating  a  monument  that  shall  stand,  like  Warburton's 
"  Divine  Legation,"  full  of  the  riches  of  knowledge,  yet  utterly 
valueless  with  respect  to  the  position  sought  to  be  established. 
Thomas  Aquinas  has  written  wdth  astonishing  acuteness  what 
it  would  take  almost  a  lifetime  for  an  ordinary  mind  to  com- 
pass ;  yet  Thomas  Aquinas  is  only  a  mighty  shade,  not  a 
living,  animating  power  to  improve  and  guide  the  world. 
Had  this  stalwart  mind  adopted  a  method  of  study  more  just 
and  tnie,  what  grand  results  might  he  not  have  reached  ? 
what  light  might  he  not  have  thrown  forward  upon  the  com- 
ing generations  ?  It  is  thus  a  great  point  in  education  to 
teach  not  only  the  limitations  of  knowledge,  but  the  methods 
by  which  the  knowledge  attainable  must  be  sought.  These 
methods  vary  as  the  knowledge  itself  varies.  The  method  of 
the  poet  is  not  that  of  the  logician  :  the  method  of  the  mathe- 


COLLEGIATE     EDUCATION.  23 

matician  is  not  tliat  of  the  moral  philosopher :  the  method  of 
the  naturalist  is  not  that  of  the  rhetorician.  They  may  all 
have  some  points  of  agreement,  but  they  have  likewise  im- 
portant differences.  In  these  the  mind  is  to  be  fully  in- 
structed— instructed  not  merely  in  theory,  but  trained  by 
individual  exercise.  The  course  of  study  must  be  such  as 
will  compel  the  working  of  the  intellect  in  these  different 
methods  ;  that  by  a  thorough  mastery  of  each,  their  true 
nature  may  be  seen  and  felt,  and  the  mind,  when  it  enters 
upon  one  or  the  other,  will  spontaneously  and  vigorously  fol- 
low out  its  peculiar  laws.  When  a  man  has  thus  grasped 
these  methods  of  searching  after  the  truth,  when  his  intellect 
has  been  habituated  to  work  easily  in  each  according  to  its 
nature ;  then  is  he  prepared  to  advance  intelligently  and  suc- 
cessfully in  any  one  he  may  choose.  He  will  not  confound 
them  in  practice  :  he  will  not  demand  in  religion  the  demon- 
strations of  mathematics,  nor  build  his  philosophy  of  the 
mind  upon  the  creations  of  the  imagination.  Thus  trained, 
he  is  not  only  able  to  think,  but  to  think  so  as  to  make  his 
every  attainment  a  step  from  which  to  rise  to  other  and 
higher  attainments. 

Now,  by  thus  becoming  thoroughly  drilled  in  the  method 
of  science,  there  will  follow  another  result  that  gives  its  char- 
acter to  the  educated  mind  ;  and  this  is  a  familiarity  with 
the  general  principles  of  science  in  its  various  departments. 
The  student  gradually  advances  from  point  to  point,  until  he 
has  before  him  the  whole  field  of  truth  in  its  great  outlines 
and  relations.  He  gains  a  comprehensive  survey  of  thought 
as  a  whole,  in  some  one  or  two  departments  of  which  he  is 
hereafter  to  labor.  Now  this  position  is  of  immense  advan- 
tage ;  for  all  science  is  most  intimately  related.  Its  source  is 
in  one  infinite  Intellect  from  which  came  forth  the  grand  idea. 
Creation  and  all  its  laws  are  a  unit ;  diverse,  multiform,  often 
apparently  contrasted,  like  the  huge  crests  of  the  world  which 
have  broken  up  the  once  level  strata  ;  yet  there  is  a  real  har- 
mony between  them.  The  music  of  the  spheres  is  just  as 
sweet,  it  is  just  as  true  in  the  matin  of  the  lark  and  the  hum 


24  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUBSES. 

of  the  bee,  as  when  it  swells  in  the  grander  diapason  of  the 
universe.  The  pure  abstractions  of  mathematics  find  a  home 
in  the  skies  ;  and  yet  are  linked  to  the  forms  which  Nature 
assumes  in  the  grass  at  your  feet,  in  the  tree  that  lifts  its 
branches  into  the  heavens,  and  in  the  colors  that  deck  the 
world  in  beauty.  The  laws  which  control  society  in  its  growth 
and  life,  lie  on  one  side  in  the  soul  of  man  ;  on  the  other  in 
the  bosom  of  the  earth,  in  the  atmosphere  around,  and  ascend 
to  the  orb  which  exerts  so  vast  an  influence  on  man  and  his 
abode.  An  elastic  vapor  which  unconfined  disappears,  con- 
fined and  guarded  by  science  enters  into  and  becomes  one  of 
the  vital  forces  that  shape  the  whole  progress  of  society.  As- 
tronomy, which  at  one  time  is  a  fancy  and  an  abstraction,  at 
another  gives  laws  to  every  ship  that  sails  the  ocean.  So  all 
science  works  together ;  and  just  so  fixr  as  men  can  enter  into 
the  mighty  system  of  the  original  Planner,  it  reveals  un- 
thought  of  harmonies,  it  adjusts  itself  spontaneously  in  grand 
accord  with  the  highest  intelligence  and  finest  development 
of  human  society. 

Now  it  is  a  matter  of  large  influence,  it  enters  as  an  ele- 
ment of  great  force  into  the  work  the  man  of  education  is 
called  to  do  ;  when  he  can  go  forth  to  this  work  from  the 
vantage  of  a  position  where  he  takes  in  these  principles  of 
science  and  sees  their  intimate  relations.  Cicero  was  the 
grandest  mind  of  Eome,  not  only  because  of  his  "golden 
mouth,"  nor  because  of  his  comprehensive  statesmanship  ; 
but  chiefly  because  he  had  mastered  the  general  principles  of 
all  the  science  of  his  day.  In  this  he  rose  superior  to  Horten- 
sius,  to  Pompey,  to  Ceesar.  He  had  risen  into  the  highest 
empyrean  of  science  ;  he  had  bathed  his  wings  in  the  pure 
sunlight  far  above  the  vapors  that  enshrouded  the  multitude  ; 
he  had  surveyed  with  a  keen  eye  and  masterly  comprehension 
the  whole  field  of  pagan  learning  ;  from  his  lofty  eyrie  he 
went  forth  at  will  to  gather  their  treasures  from  the  land  and 
from  the  sea ;  there  he  nourished  his  strength  ;  and  woe  to 
Catiline,  to  Verres,  to  Antony,  when  he  swooped  down  upon 
them  from  his  place  of  power  !  joy  to  the  Kepublic  when  the 


COLLEGIATE  EDUCATION.  25 

gi-and  old  Roman  poured  the  wisdom  of  his  counscA  upon  the 
willing  ears  of  her  Senate  yet  unfallen,  and  grasping  the  Fas- 
ces of  her  dread  sovereignty  shook  them  proudly  in  the  faces  of 
her  enemies  !  And  so  Avhen  other  things  are  equal,  it  will  ever 
be  that  the  man  who  has  mastered  the  general  elements  of 
that  system  of  truth  which  is  built  up  as  a  grand  temple 
around  us  will  show  himself  the  superior,  the  chief  among  his 
fellows.  From  this  so  wide  a  range  of  knowledge,  he  not  only 
acquires  the  materials  of  illustration,  which  contribute  so 
powerfully  to  the  success  of  the  orator  ;  but  he  finds  these 
principles  so  allied  to  each  other  that  in  whatever  direction 
he  pushes  his  investigations,  sjiontaneously  they  send  in  their 
contributions  :  lights  flame  out  on  every  side  :  he  stands  in 
the  center :  he  concentrates  their  blaze  into  an  intenser  light 
upon  the  subject  he  is  seeking  to  penetrate.  They  guide,  they 
illustrate  the  student's  path.  They  facilitate  the  physician's 
diagnosis,  by  revealing  the  latent  connection  of  spirit  and 
body.  They  expand  and  ennoble  the  forensic  efforts  of  the 
lawyer,  by  bringimg  the  science  which  he  wields  for  the  cause 
of  justice,  into  sympathy  and  union  with  the  profounder  prin- 
ciples of  divine  law.  They  give  comprehension  and  elevation 
to  the  statesman,  teaching  him  how  human  government  hath 
its  roots  in  a  sublimer  system  of  order,  that  hath  its  seat  in 
the  bosom  of  God,  and  its  home  in  all  the  universe  of  animate 
existence.  They  give  to  the  naturalist  a  larger  vision,  reveal- 
ing to  him  the  higher  laws  which  bind  together  all  things 
material  and  immaterial.  They  assist  the  minister  of  Jesus 
in  his  demonstrations  of  the  truth  of  Scripture,  enabling  him 
to  exhibit  the  verities  of  both  revelations  as  all  in  harmony  ; 
to  show  how  the  same  mind  ordained  the  law  moral  and  the 
law  natural,  and  made  them  meet  in  man  ;  how  thus,  from 
the  consenting  voices  of  nature  and  inspiration,  there  rises  a 
blended  haimony  of  praise,  sweet  choral  music,  univocal 
through  all  creation,  grander  than  angelic  syraj^honies,  more 
wondrous  than  Orphean  lyres,  ascending  ever  to  Him,  who 
through  Christ  created,  and  in  Him  redeemed  our  race.  It  is 
thus  we  seek  to  train  the  minds  of  our  American  vouth.    We 


26  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

climb  the  heights  of  knowledge  :  we  teach  them  how  to  scale 
those  smnmits  which  seemed  at  first  inaccessible  :  we  place 
them  where  they  can  nourish  their  strength  and  clear  their 
vision,  and  elevate  their  minds  to  a  comprehensive  range  of 
thought  in  the  clearer  atmosphere  of  abstract  science  :  we 
take  them  to  a  point,  where,  spread  out  before  them,  they 
can  see  the  realm  of  literature,  with  all  its  States  and  King- 
doms. Thus  taught  they  will  never  mistake  the  little  spot 
on  which  they  may  happen  to  dwell,  as  the  world's  center, 
nor  for  lack  of  compass  and  chart,  fear  to  sail  forth  on  the 
wide  ocean  in  search  of  continents  yet  unvisited,  of  cities  yet 
unseen.  As  men  who  know  the  outlines  and  boundaries  of 
all  things  which  science  has  yet  reached,  they  can  go  forth  to 
explore  and  perfect  their  knowledge  in  any  direction,  and  so 
jirepare  themselves  to  contribute  most  largely  to  the  elevation 
of  their  fellow-men. 

But  in  addition  to  these  objects,  our  system  of  mental 
education  contemplates  yet  another.  It  seeks  to  give  to  our 
young  men  the  jiower  to  make  known  most  effectively  the 
science  they  acquire.  It  teaches  them  how  to  wield  that  in- 
strument of  thought  which,  though  dumb,  hath  a  thousand 
voices  ;  which,  inanimate  and  dark,  in  man's  hand,  informed 
with  his  intelligence,  becomes  articulate,  all  ablaze  with  light, 
speaks  in  the  ear  of  nations,  flames  around  the  thrones  of  kings, 
delights  the  hearts  of  children,  consoles  sorrow  in  its  despond- 
ency, peoples  solitude  with  the  presence  of  genius,  counsels 
in  perplexity,  gives  a  living  form  to  thought,  an  existence  im- 
mortal to  the  highest  efforts  of  the  intellect,  and  announces 
in  tones  distinct,  in  words  that  never  die,  the  wisdom  of  the 
Infinite  breathed  into  the  souls  of  his  chosen  prophets.  Not 
only  does  it  teach  men  how  to  wield  the  pen  ;  it  cultivates 
the  gift  of  utterance.  It  disciplines  the  tongue.  It  links  to- 
gether the  emotion,  the  thought,  the  word,  the  articulate 
speech.  It  makes  the  hand,  the  eye,  the  lineaments  of  the 
countenance  bring  tribute  to  the  voice.  It  habituates  and  en- 
ables the  man  to  unfold  clearly,  forcibly,  for  the  insti'uction 
of  others,  all  the  knowledge,  all  that  resulting  conviction  and 


COLLEGIATE     EDUCATION.  27 

thouglit  which  from  a  thousand  sources,  from  years  of  study, 
he  hath  slowly  attained.  It  develops  and  gives  utterance  to 
that  secret  inspiration,  here  and  there  found  as  a  special  gift, 
which,  whether  at  the  Bar,  in  the  Senate  chamber,  at  the 
Hustings,  on  the  Rostrum  or  the  Pulpit,  as  it  trembles  on  the 
tongue,  as  it  sparkles  in  the  eye,  as  it  animates  the  counte- 
nance, as  it  swells  in  the  voice  ;  like  divine  music  entrances 
the  listener  and  holds  the  hearts  of  men  in  glad  thralldom.  It 
seeks  to  send  forth  these  minds  prepared  to  impress,  to  move, 
to  mold,  to  enlighten  society.  It  cultivates  these  gifts  of 
practical  instruction  and  irnpression,  as  not  only  grand  instru- 
ments of  power  and  usefulness  in  themselves,  but  as  of  espe- 
cial use  in  our  country,  and  in  harmony  with  our  institutions. 
For  we  have  no  large,  permanent  class  of  gentlemen  of  leis- 
ure :  our  laws  are  hostile  to  that  system,  which,  by  entailing 
estates,  stereotypes  the  material  elevation  of  one  set  of  men 
above  their  fellows.  We  have  no  hereditary  Senate,  no  order 
of  men  who  by  virtue  of  birth  occupy  the  seats  of  influence  in 
church  or  state.  Society  is  in  a  perpetual  process  of  dissolu- 
tion and  reconstruction.  The  statesman  of  to-day  sprang 
from  nothing,  and  his  son,  so  far  as  the  constitution  of  the 
State  avails,  may  descend  to  nothing  to-morrow.  It  is  vigor, 
intelligence,  the  power  to  speak,  the  power  to  write,  that  find 
open  paths  to  high  places.  The  pen,  the  tongue,  have  here 
the  grandest  field  of  effort.  All  men,  either  in  virtue  of  their 
2)rofession,  or  in  virtue  of  their  citizenship,  may  wield  them, 
and  either  rise  to  power  or  to  that  influence  which  is  higher 
than  ofi&cial  station  ;  that  influence  which  fkshions  opinion 
and  shapes  character,  and  so  gives  fundamental  laws  to  so- 
ciety. This  makes  iwacticcd  men  :  the  mind  of  large  intelli- 
gence full  of  vigor  and  tact,  through  the  pen  and  tongue 
works  immortal  results.  Its  products  abide,  when  the  crude 
theories  and  shallow  conceits  of  the  half-educated  and  narrow 
intellect,  though  for  a  time  they  may  spread  wide,  have  per- 
ished from  the  knowledge  of  mankind. 

It  is  thus  we  aim  to  give  in  this  our  college  course,  at 
this  stage  of  education,  such  an  intellectual  training  as  will 


28  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

fit  our  young  men  to  be  leaders  and  guides.  We  teach  them 
to  think,  by  canying  them  through  those  processes  of  thought 
which  disciphne  all  the  various  powers  of  the  mind,  and 
strengthen  them  for  effective  and  independent  action.  We 
induct  them  into  methods  through  which  science  is  best  at- 
tained, and  give  them  that  position  in  respect  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  its  general  jirinciples  which  will  qualify  them  to  enter 
intelligently  upon  any  of  its  departments.  We  teach  them 
how  to  communicate  what  they  knoAv  ;  and  prepare  them  to 
write  and  sjDeak,  as  men  who  have  a  mission  of  instruction, 
of  guidance,  of  influence  for  good  among  their  fellow-men, 

I  have  reserved  the  subject  of  religious  education  for  this 
place,  not  because  it  is  inferior  in  imj)ortance  to  that  which 
is  physical  and  intellectual ;  but  because,  being  truly  of  far 
higher  interest,  it  may  thus  crown  the  ascending  series  of 
thought,  and  remain  in  its  full  force  in  your  minds.  The 
question  whether  religion  shall  enter  as  a  vital  element  into 
collegiate  education,  is  nothing  less  than  the  question  whether 
during  these  four  years  of  the  most  interesting  period  of  his 
existence,  the  young  man  shall  be  educated  at  all  for  the 
highest  end  of  his  being !  Our  relations  to  God  are  primarj^ : 
they  take  precedence  of  all  others  :  they  carry  with  them  all 
that  is  most  profound  in  thought,  rich  in  wisdom,  grand  or 
fearful  in  destiny. 

These  earthly  relations  pass  away  ;  these  apparent  inter- 
ests which  now  so  clamorously  beseech  our  attention,  soon 
die  ;  but  tliat  which  relates  to  G-od  and  another  world,  abides 
and  grows  mightier  with  the  decay  of  things  temporal.  The 
greatest  constitutional  lawyer  of  modern  times,  has  well  said : 
"  Political  eminence  and  professional  fame  fade  away  and  die 
wdth  all  things  earthly :  nothing  of  character  is  really  perma- 
nent but  virtue  and  personal  worth.  Tliese  remain.  What- 
ever of  excellence  is  inwrought  into  the  soul  itself,  belongs  to 
both  worlds.  Real  goodness  does  not  attach  itself  merely  to 
this  life  ;  it  points  to  another  world.  Political  or  professional 
reputation  can  not  last  for  ever  ;  but  a  conscience  void  of 
offense  before  God  and  man  is  an  inheritance  for  eternity. 


COLLEGIATE     EDUCATION.  29 

Eeligion  is  therefore  a  necessary  and  indispensable  clement  in 
any  human  character.  There  is  no  living  without  it.  Eeli- 
gion is  the  tie  that  connects  man  with  his  Creator,  and  holds 
him  to  his  throne.  If  that  tie  be  all  sundered,  all  broken,  he 
floats  away  a  worthless  atom  in  the  universe  ;  its  proper  at- 
tractions all  gone  ;  its  destiny  thwarted  ;  and  its  whole  future 
nothing  but  darkness,  desolation  and  death.  A  man  with  no 
sense  of  religious  duty,  is  he  whom  the  Scripture  describes  in 
such  terse  but  terrific  language,  as  living  without  God  in  the 
world :  such  a  man  is  out  of  his  proper  being ;  out  of  the 
circle  of  all  his  duties  ;  out  of  the  circle  of  all  his  happiness  ; 
and  away,  far,  far  away  from  the  purposes  of  his  creation  !"* 
These  are  eloquent  words,  and  true  as  eloquent.  They  com- 
mend themselves  to  every  right  reason  and  pure  conscience, 
as  a  just  estimate  of  the  value  of  religion.  But  if  such  be  the 
relation  of  religion  to  our  highest  interests,  then  surely  it  is 
not  a  thing  to  be  practically  lost  sight  of  in  the  training  of 
youth.  There  is  not  in  the  whole  period  of  our  existence,  a 
season  in  which  right  religious  instruction  and  influence  should 
be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  intellect  and  heart  with  greater 
intensity  and  fullness,  than  when  these  young  minds  are  open- 
ing to  take  in  the  wide  range  of  scientific  truth ;  when  habits 
of  reflection  are  forming,  and  the  mind  is  impelled  to  question 
all  that  it  can  not  see  rests  on  a  stable  foundation.  At  all 
times,  but  more  especially  now,  should  religion  influence  and 
mold  the  whole  being.  It  should  be  treated,  not  as  an  in- 
cident to  education,  or  a  mere  formal,  outward  law  ;  but  as 
that  which  should  pervade  and  characterize  it  as  the  plastic 
power,  the  primary  and  motive  energy  of  the  whole,  separated 
from  which  the  intellect  itself  has  lost  its  highest  suj^port, 
and  the  soul  its  noblest  possession.  How,  then,  shall  we  give 
to  this  department  of  education  its  true  position  in  our  col- 
legiate system  ?  When  we  have  given  it  this,  what  will  be 
its  probable  influence  ? 

In  meeting  the  obligation  to  make  religion  a  vital  element 

*  Webster. 


30  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

in  our  course  of  study,  is  it  enough  for  us  to  assemble  the 
students  for  daily  worship,  or  for  one  or  two  Sabbath  ser- 
vices ?  No  one  shall  surpass  me  in  a  just  estimate  of  the 
high  value  of  such  services,  when  made  what  they  should  be 
in  their  adaptation  to  the  minds  for  whom  they  are  designed  ; 
but  I  ask,  whether  these  are  sufficient  to  give  the  youth  a 
thorough  mastery  of  the  great  facts  of  Christianity :  whether 
these,  in  point  of  fact,  compel  him  to  work  his  mind  at  all 
along  the  line  of  these  facts  as  he  does  on  all  the  other  sub- 
jects of  the  course.  Is  it  then,  in  addition  to  this,  sufficient 
to  teach  him  natural  theology,  and  make  science  in  its  mate- 
rial laws  the  basis  on  which  you  can  proceed  to  give  him  a 
more  enlarged  knowledge  of  God  and  redemption  ?  But  in 
this  there  is  a  twofold  fallacy.  The  first  is  in  taking  for 
granted  the  very  thing  to  be  taught :  in  supposing  that  the 
great  system  of  Christianity  has  been  so  far  mastered,  that 
you  can  intelligently  advance  to  show  the  accord  of  this  sys- 
tem with  the  entire  system  of  truth  as  it' lies  in  creation. 
The  second  is  in  supposing  that  the  Christian  religion  rests 
upon  or  grows  out  of  mere  material  science.  Christianity  is 
not  natural  theology.  It  harmonizes  indeed  with  reason,  but 
it  is  not  discoverable,  nor  in  all  its  facts  fully  comprehensible 
by  it.  It  is  confessedly  not  a  new  edition  of  nature,  but  an 
original,  independent  publication  of  the  divine  will.  Its  ne- 
cessity lies  in  the  utter  defectiveness  of  natural  theology.  Man 
by  wisdom  knows  not  God.  Paley's  great  argument  is  of  no 
more  avail  to  teach  Christian  truth  than  that  of  Socrates  : 
both,  as  natural  theology,  are  far  below  the  wants  of  the  soul, 
and  below  that  original  revelation  which  was  given  to  meet 
these  wants.  All  science  that  is  real  and  true  may  be  brought 
to  illustrate  this  revelation,  and  reveal  the  secret  harmony 
which  pervades  the  works  and  the  Word  of  God  :  but  the 
Word  must  be  thoroughly  mastered  in  its  teachings  before 
you  can  bring  it  into  this  great  circle  of  science,  and  show, 
by  comparison,  its  wisdom  to  be  higher  and  more  vital  than 
all  else. 

Is  it  then  sufficient  to  give  brief  lectures  directly  on  the 


COLLEGIATE     EDUCATION.  31 

evidences  of  Christianity  ?  These  must  necessarily  be  lim- 
ited, abstract,  and  confined  to  one  part  of  the  course.  Im- 
portant in  their  place,  as  satisfying  some  minds  and  meeting 
some  objections  ;  they  are  fit  rather  as  a  means  of  gathering 
together  and  systematizing  facts  already  mastered  in  detail. 
Without  such  previously  acquired  familiarity  with  the  ele- 
ments of  Christian  truth,  their  efiect  is  partial.  They  can 
never  form  the  main  element  of  a  course  of  religious  educa- 
tion. 

In  point  of  fact,  how  is  it  that  science  is  most  successfully 
taught  in  this  stage  of  education  ?  Is  it  not  by  a  direct  study 
of  facts,  of  laws,  of  problems  ?  Why  is  it  not  sufficient  for 
the  teacher  to  lecture  on  the  beauties  of  Tacitus  or  vEschylus, 
on  mental  and  moral  philosophy,  on  mathematics  and  chem- 
istry ?  Because  these  young  minds  must  first  be  made  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  the  language  of  Tacitus  and  -3^]schylus, 
with  the  facts  on  which  mental  and  moral  science  is  based, 
and  the  nature  of  the  truths  that  constitute  mathematical 
science,  before  you  can  advance  with  them  to  a  demonstration 
of  that  which  is  pure  science.  The  lecturer  on  chemistry, 
and  geology,  and  botany,  takes  the  facts  first,  and  familiar- 
izes the  mind  with  them  by  a  series  of  actual  experi- 
ments ;  and  then  there  is  a  foundation  on  which  to  build 
up  a  regular  system  of  organic  law.  Now  this  method 
of  education,  which  must  be  pursued  whenever  thorough 
scientific  education  is  effected,  is  just  that  which  ought  to 
be  pursued  in  the  department  of  Christian  science.  Instead 
of  leaving  the  Bible,  the  grand  embodiment  of  all  the  facts 
of  the  Christian  system,  on  the  shelf  for  four  long  years, 
during  the  most  fruitful  period  of  life,  at  the  very  time 
when  the  principles  and  facts  that  bear  the  finest  fruit  in 
our  after  career,  take  root,  we  must  take  it  down  :  we  must 
make  it  the  book  which  our  youth  shall  study  :  study  from 
Genesis  to  Revelation  :  study  in  its  history,  its  laws,  its 
prophecy,  its  poetry,  its  philosophy,  its  theology,  its  Chris- 
tology.  We  teach  science  by  a  thorough  examination  of 
those  works  which   constitute   its  clearest  exposition  ;   we 


32  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

take  tlie  finest  classic  writers  to  teach  language,  the  ablest 
mathematical  works  to  teach  mathematics  ;  we  gather  up 
the  most  striking  facts  of  natural  science  wherewith  to  ex- 
periment :  we  analyze  the  works  of  the  ahlest  reasoners  to 
obtain  a  mastery  of  logic,  and  of  the  most  eloquent  orators  to 
enter  into  the  science  of  rhetoric  ;  and  when  God  has  given 
us  the  finest  product  of  his  wisdom,  pregnant  with  the  grand- 
est forms  of  thought,  rich  in  the  most  remarkable  history,  full 
of  those  facts  which  running  through  more  than  4,000  years, 
culminate  at  last  in  the  most  wonderful  creation  of  humanity, 
in  the  most  amazing  exhibition  of  divinity,  and  the  full  de- 
velopment of  a  system  of  truth  vital  to  the  redemption  of  the 
soul ;  shall  we,  having  charge  of  youth  in  the  very  years 
when  they  are  most  impressible,  shall  we  not  induct  them 
thoroughly  into  these  thoughts,  these  facts,  this  grand  sys- 
tem ?  Shall  we  deem  our  duty  done  when  we  have  read  a 
daily  chapter,  and  preached  a  weekly  sermon,  and  lectured  a 
few  times  on  some  of  the  evidences  of  its  inspiration  ?  Shall 
we  be  wiser  for  time  than  we  are  for  eternity,  and  train  up 
youth  richer  in  pagan  than  in  Christian  lore  ?  The  Bible  is 
the  heart,  the  sun  of  a  truly  Christian  education  ;  and  how 
shall  we  educate  men  as  Christians,  how  shall  w^e  ground 
them  effectually  in  that  which  constitutes  Christianity,  unless 
we  do  for  them  what  Cicero  would  have  done  for  educated 
Roman  youth,  in  respect  to  the  twelve  tables — make  it  the 
carmen  necessarium  of  an  educated  American  ?  If  he  could 
say  that  the  "  twelve  tables  were  v»^orth  more  than  all  the 
libraries  of  the  philosopher,"  and  therefore  should  be  studied 
more  constantly  and  profoundly  ;  may  we  not,  with  equal 
truth,  affirm  that  the  Bible  is  worth  more  than  all  philoso- 
phy, all  natural  science,  all  other  forms  of  thought  ;  and 
therefore  it  should  be  of  all  books  the  most  profoundly  stud- 
ied, the  most  constantly  present  through  the  whole  process  of 
education  ?  We  would  place  the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  the 
youth,  when  first  with  a  trembling  heart  and  heightened  ex- 
pectation he  enters  these  Halls.  We  would  make  it  his  study, 
his  companion  from  week  to  week,  as  his  mind  opens  and  his 


COLLEG-ATE  EDUCATION.  33 

powers  of  reflection  expand.  We  would  have  this  liglit  shed 
its  steady,  serene  brightness  all  along  his  ascending  way,  until 
he  went  forth  alone  into  the  stern  conflict  of  life.  We  would 
have  no  compromise  with  infidelity  or  skepticism  on  this  sul)- 
ject ;  we  are  Christian  educators  :  we  prize  Grod's  word  above 
all  earthly  science.  There  is  our  banner  :  we  fling  it  to  the 
breeze  !  If  you  send  your  son  hither,  we  shall  do  all  that  in 
us  lies  to  teach  him  what  this  book  contains,  and  to  make  its 
truths  eflfective  in  the  control  of  his  life.  We  shall  not  Si])o\- 
ogize  for  Christianity,  nor  treat  it  as  a  handmaid  to  natural 
science  ;  but  as  the  queen-regent  over  all  our  studies,  our 
lives  ;  our  richest  possession  in  time,  our  only  hope  for 
eternity. 

On  the  method  of  teaching,  and  securing  the  thorough 
study  of  this  book,  permit  me  to  add  two  remarks  :  first,  the 
Bible  is  not  to  be  taught  from  the  stand  point  of  mere  liter- 
ature. It  is  not  as  a  human  inspiration,  but  as  a  divine  reve- 
lation, it  occupies  this  chief  seat  in  an  institution  of  learning. 
I  will  not  degrade  it  from  this  position,  by  studying  it  as  if 
it  were  the  songs  of  Homer,  or  the  De  Corona  of  Demos- 
thenes, or  the  history  of  Thucydides.  It  is  not  because  it 
has  the  oldest  history,  the  sublimest  poetry,  the  most  touch- 
ing stories,  the  most  compact  reasoning,  the  richest  figures 
of  rhetoj'ic,  that  it  is  worthy  to  be  the  vade-mecum  of  our 
youth  ;  it  is  as  a  divine  revelation^  thrilling  through  all  its 
nervous  words  with  the  inspiration  of  Jehovah,  opening  to 
man  the  will  of  his  Maker  in  its  unmistakable  purity,  minis- 
tering to  the  wants  of  a  soul  diseased,  and  an  intellect  be- 
nighted, swelling  in  a  broad  tide  with  divine  compassion,  and 
designed  to  lift  men  from  the  troublous  depths  of  earthly  pol- 
lution, sorrow,  and  death-darkness,  into  the  purity,  the  joy, 
and  the  light  of  a  new  life  in  Christ  Jesus  ; — as  a  revelation 
it  claims  the  student's  daily  attention  and  challenges  his  pro- 
foundest  thought.  From  this  stand  point  of  an  assured  di- 
vine revelation  respecting  our  duties  and  our  hopes,  I  would 
teach  the  Bible.  I  will  not  leave  out  its  grand  distinction. 
We  do  not  begin  to  study  natural  science  from  the  stand 

3 


34       •  EDUCATIONAL     D.SCOURSES. 

point  of  Atheism  ;  we  do  not  ask  the  student  to  divest  him- 
self of  all  belief  in  the  being  of  God,  and  go  down  into  the 
blank,  dark  regions  of  chance,  when  he  enters  upon  the  inves- 
tigation of  the  works  of  creation  ;  we  assume  that  there  is  a 
God  :  that  there  is  a  Providence  :  that  there  is  order  and 
wisdom  of  divine  original  all  about  us  :  that  man  has  a  true 
history,  and  that  God  is  his  Father.  So  in  teaching  Chris- 
tianity, Ave  mean  to  start  with  its  truth  as  a  fact  ;  and  then 
as  we  study  the  revelation  which  ccmtains  it,  we  will  show 
how,  being  true,  it  harmonizes  with  all  we  know  or  can  know 
of  nature,  so  far  as  it  is  not  infinitely  above  it :  we  show  in 
tracing  out  the  facts  of  the  record,  its  origin,  its  cause,  the 
grand  idea  and  method  according  to  which  its  divine  Author 
wrought  it  out.  Thus  we  are  prepared  to  vindicate  in  the 
fullest  manner  its  inspiration,  and  illustrate  and  enforce  its 
trutli  as  the  highest  will  of  God,  full  of  light,  of  love,  of 
peace,  of  hojje,  of  all  the  elements  vital  to  form  the  noblest 
character  and  fit  it  for  the  skies.     So  much  for  our  method. 

Then  I  would  secure  the  constant  study  of  the  Bible,  by 
making  jjroficicncy  in  the  knowledge  of  it  enter  into  the  final 
estimate  of  the  character  and  standing  of  the  scholar.  In  this 
respect,  it  should  occupy  the  same  position  in  the  college  cur- 
riculum as  any  other  study.  Instead  of  being  left  to  the  ca- 
price of  the  student,  to  be  engaged  in  or  not  as  he  may  choose, 
it  should  be  enforced  precisely  as  is  the  study  of  the  classics 
or  mathematics.  If  each  recitation  enters  into  and  consti- 
tutes the  standing  of  the  scholar  ;  so  would  I  have  the  reci- 
tation on  this  book  and  the  attainments  made  in  this  nobler 
study,  go  towards  determining  the  sum  total  of  his  entire 
acquisitions.  If  to  this  it  be  objected  that  religion  is  an  affair 
of  the  heart — a  voluntary  matter  ;  I  answer,  that  if  religion 
belongs  to  the  heart,  its  great  vital  truths  belong  to  the  head, 
and  are  to  be  investigated  by  the  same  intellectual  processes 
we  employ  in  any  other  science.  If  attention  to  it  is  volun- 
tary, so  is  all  education  voluntary  ;  you  can  not  comj)el  men, 
young  or  old,  to  think  :  but  you  can  place  the  young  in  such 
circumstances,  and  surround  them  with  such  influences  as 


COLLEGIATE  EDUCATION.  35 

will  contribute  poAverfully  to  awaken  thought  in  any  desirable 
direction.  The  very  object  of  a  college  is  to  create  those  in- 
fluences and  combine  them  with  the  happiest  effect  ;  and 
just  as  they  are  wielded  to  secure  the  education  of  the  youth 
in  other  directions,  so  would  I  bring  them  all  to  bear  with 
equal  force  and  effect  upon  his  education  in  the  truths  that 
relate  to  the  highest  interests  of  his  soul. 

The  influence  of  this  study  will  at  once  vindicate  the 
position  assigned  to  it  in  the  system  of  collegiate  education. 
Its  direct  effect  upon  the  intellect,  in  invigorating  all  its  pow- 
ers, although  in  reality  least ;  yet  is  that  which  may  com- 
mend it  to  some  as  of  chief  importance.  The  mind  at  once 
enters  upon  the  discussion  of  truths,  which  to  their  intrinsic 
grandeur  and  vastness,  add  relations  most  vital  to  the  destiny 
(\i  the  soul.  "  God  alone  is  great."  The  questions  which 
concern  his  being;  character,  and  will,  at  once  carry  the 
thoughts  beyond  the  visible  and  temporal.  Here  the  greatest 
men  have  exercised  themselves.  Turning  from  the  superficial 
that  attaches  to  things  limited  and  seen,  they  have  sought  to 
penetrate  the  invisible,  to  solve  the  problem  connected  with 
our  relations  to  the  infinite.  Soon  or  late,  all  true  thinkers 
pass  from  the  transient  scenes  of  our  earthly  life,  and  seek  to 
explore  that  vast  profound  which  lies  around  the  soul,  and 
pulsates  with  the  presence  of  God.  And  in  thus  studying  the 
great  Revelation,  the  young  mind  enters  into  the  fullest  man- 
ifestation of  divine  wisdom  :  it  grapples  with  those  questions, 
it  is  penetrated  with  those  thoughts  which  lift  it  into  a  purer 
atmosphere.  Unlike  the  ancient  wrestler,  whose  strength  lay 
in  his  contact  with  the  earth,  he  grows  stronger,  his  intellect 
becomes  more  acute,  his  views  more  comprehensive  and  pro- 
found, as  he  is  lifted  above  the  earth,  as  he  grapples  with 
that  which  is  divine.  His  imagination  is  elevated,  refined, 
impressed  by  that  amazing  variety  of  imagery,  now  awful 
and  sublime  as  when  the  prophet  unveils  the  Infinite  sitting 
on  the  circle  of  the  heavens  :  now  all  sparkling  with  beauty 
and  radiant  with  a  divine  effluence,  as  the  things  of  earth  are 
taken  up  and  clothed  in  the  language  of  heaven.     His  mem- 


36  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES, 

ory  gathers  into  itself  scenes,  events  and  sentiments  that  serve 
hereafter  to  ilhistrate  all  forms  of  thought,  and  all  degrees  of 
science.  His  reason,  while  its  powers  of  deduction  and  ah- 
straction  and  logical  thought,  are  strengthened  by  the  effort 
to  discover  and  put  together  in  their  harmony,  the  parts  of 
the  great  system  of  Kedemption,  finds  its  capacity  of  intui- 
tive apprehension  quickened  and  expanded,  in  dwelling  upon 
the  profound  attributes  and  sublime  ideas  evolved  in  his  grow- 
ing acquaintance  with  God  in  his  word.  And  so  the  intellect 
feels  in  all  its  powers  the  vital  touch  of  the  divine  mind.  It 
quickens,  it  exalts,  it  gives  strength  to  weakness,  vigor  to 
torpidity,  profundity  to  shallowness,  breadth  to  the  narrow, 
refinement  to  the  rude,  and  greatness  to  the  entire  outgoings 
of  the  mind.  The  most  wonderful  of  histories,  the  grandest 
exhibitions  of  mental  effort,  the  sublimest  scenes  of  time,  are 
all  gathered  together  in  this  book ;  and  through  them  all 
runs  the  divine  intelligence.  What  are  the  discoveries  of  in- 
vention, the  evolutions  and  marchings  of  secular  history,  the 
triumphs  of  humanity  in  all  its  earthly  greatness,  compared 
with  that  Word  which  discloses  the  process  of  creation,  the 
origin  of  language,  the  fall  of  man,  the  unfolding  of  the 
truths  of  religion  advancing  to  their  ripe  fruit  in  the  person 
of  Jesus  Christ  !  Steam  may  develop  a  material  civilization ; 
electricity  may  be  subsidized  as  the  minister  of  thought ; 
natural  science  may  detect  the  laws  which  rule  among  the 
forms  of  matter  ;  but  this  book  calls  the  student  to  study 
God  and  the  soul  in  their  grandest  relations  ;  and  elevates 
him  to  the  contemplation  of  a  wisdom  that  will  live  and  give 
life,  when  the  earth  itself  has  passed  away. 

Nor  is  this  its  whole  influence  upon  the  intellect.  It 
places  the  student  in  a  position,  where  he  is  better  prepared 
to  see  and  fairly  judge  of  the  harmony  of  the  entire  circle  of 
science.  The  Bible  is  the  complement  of  natural  and  the 
heart  of  moral  science.  No  man  can  approximate  to  the 
completeness  of  general  scholarship,  without  having  studied 
profoundly  its  great  system  of  truth.  This  system  stands 
intimately  related  to  all  science  :  it  furnishes  the  key  which 


COLLEGIATE     EDUCATION,  37 

unlocks  much  of  the  mystery  that  belongs  to  nature.  The 
mere  natural  explorer  is  baffled  and  confounded  whenever  he 
attempts  to  rise  into  the  higher  generalizations  of  known 
truth :  the  study  of  final  causes  is  full  of  darkness,  till  the 
light  from  the  throne  is  shed  upon  them.  "  In  thy  light 
shall  we  see  light."  We  may  invert  and  apply  broadly  to  a 
just  comprehension  of  the  whole  range  of  the  teachings  of 
nature,  what  Cicero  says  of  his  Orator  :  Omnia  prqfecto, 
cum  se  a  ccelestihus  rebus  referret  ad  Jmmanas,  excelshis. 
magificentiusque  et  dtcet  et  sentiet.  It  is  in  the  light  of  the 
celestial,  we  shall  see  more  justly  the  terrestrial.  The  states- 
man will  have  a  juster  understanding  of  government,  the  his- 
torian a  more  comprehensive  view  of  the  progress  of  the 
world,  the  physician  a  more  thorough  insight  into  that  phy- 
sical form  he  seeks  to  heal,  the  naturalist  a  completer  con- 
ception of  those  forces  that  pervade  all  being,  and  all  edu- 
cated minds  a  more  satisfactory  understanding  of  the  relations 
of  the  whole  system  of  truth  ;  just  so  far  as  to  their  special 
attainments  in  other  directions,  they  shall  unite  this  pro- 
founder  knowledge  of  Revealed  Truth.  The  men  who  make 
our  laws  and  interpret  them,  will  rise  to  a  conception  of  law 
broad  as  humanity.  They  will  understand  what  was  long 
since  uttered  :  Non  erit  alia  lex  Bomce,  alia  Athenis,  alia 
nunc,  alia  post  hac,  sed  et  oinnes  gentes,  et  omni  tempo7'e,  una 
lex,  sempitei'na,  et  imrnortalis  continehit.  That  one  law, 
those  all-embracing  principles,  that  higher  system  into  which 
all  others  ascend,  and  find  their  place,  in  connections  subor- 
dinate and  subsidiary,  was  revealed  in  Eden,  repromulgated 
on  Sinai,  perfected  on  Calvary,  illustrated,  defined  and  en- 
forced in  that  book  which  holy  men  wrote  as  they  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Here  Bacon  had  revealed  that  pure 
light — the  true  lumen  siccum,  through  which  he  saw  the  path 
of  science  ascending  to  the  throne.  Here  Milton  bathed  his 
wings,  and,  though  sightless,  filled  with  a"  divine  efiluence,  of 
all  mortal  singers,  soared  nearest  the  sun.  Here  Newton 
came :  this  Word  Divine  gave  symmetry  to  his  matchless 
intellect,  a  higher  power  of  generalization  to  his  matchless 


38  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

reason,  a  wider,  clearer  vision  of  the  whole  great  system  of 
universal  truth.  And  no  man  should  call  himself  an  Ameri- 
can scholar,  who  like  them  has  not  obtained  the  key  tiiat 
opens  the  portal  of  this  s])iritual  temple. 

Another  result  of  this  method  is  the  solid  basis  which  it 
lays  for  an  intelligent  faith  in  the  Bible  as  a  divine  revela- 
tion. Ignorance  is  the  great  enemy  of  the  Christian  faith. 
To  send  forth  into  the  world  a  young  man,  thoroughly  at 
home  in  material  and  secular  knowledge,  but  imperfectly 
grounded  in  that  which  is  of  vaster  importance  and  pro- 
founder  influence  upon  himself  and  society,  is  frequently  to 
do  both  him  and  Christianity  an  incalculable  injury. 

He  enters  upon  active  life,  often  in  circumstances  unpro- 
pitious  to  the  cultivation  of  faith  in  the  divine  word.  Phi- 
losophies seemingly  profound,  specious  and  attractive,  chal- 
lenge his  attention  :  that  which  seemed  venerable  and  sacred 
in  his  eyes,  is  questioned,  opposed,  ridiculed  :  his  half-formed 
arguments,  his  hereditary  logic  can  not  stand  before  the  keen 
cimeters  of  these  sons  of  the  false  pro^jhet.  If  at  length 
skepticism  does  not  win  the  day,  yet  douht  enters  :  the  solid 
earth  becomes  the  unquiet  sea  :  he  clings  to  the  truth  rather 
as  an  alternative  the  most  stable,  where  all  is  restless  and 
shifting  :  the  grand  forms  of  truth  hold  him  rather  than  the 
truth  itself.  Often  these  fail :  his  anchor  is  torn  up  :  he 
floats  away  from  all  that  is  true,  sacred  and  divine.  But  now 
let  us  take  him  while  yet  life  is  fresh  within  him  ;  while  prin- 
ciples are  ro-oting  themselves  in  his  convictions,  there  to  spring 
up  and  become  germinant  powers  in  after  life  ;  let  us  take 
him  into  and  around  this  temple  which  is  to  serve  for  a  refuge, 
a  joy,  a  habitation  to  the  soul  for  ever  ;  let  us  go  with  him 
quietly,  slowly,  frequently,  so  as  to  give  time  to  his  expand- 
ing intellect  to  question  every  part,  and  take  in  the  full  real- 
ity as  it  rises  before  him  ;  let  us  descend  to  the  deep  and 
broad  foundations  and  explain  to  him  how  and  why  these 
massive  stones  were  made  thus  to  underlie  the  flibric  ;  let  us 
measure  them  with  line  and  plummet  and  test  their  sound- 
ness with  the  hardest  logic  ;  let  us  ascend  and  examine  these 


COLLEGIATE  EDUCATION.  39 

vast  pillars,  and  cxjilain  their  stability,  their  proportion,  their 
utility  ;  let  us  examine  point  by  point  each  wall  and  arch,  each 
pediment  and  capital ;  let  us  finally  scan  with  closest  scrutiny 
the  mighty  dome  upheaved  on  these  strong  pillars,  through 
which  the  clear,  calm,  quickening  light  direct  from  the  celes- 
tial throne  pours  in  upon  the  soul  its  radiance  ;  let  us  do  all 
this  ;  and  then  we  shall  have  done  something  worthy  of  the 
name,  to  educate  him  in  the  faith  of  a  Christian.  With  such 
a  discipline,  it  will  be  almost  as  difficult  to  dislodge  the  con- 
viction of  the  truth  of  Revelation  from  his  intellect,  as  it 
would  to  persuade  him,  after  he  has  stood  beneath  the  shadow 
of  St.  Peter's,  that  this  grandest  monument  of  the  genius  of 
Angelo  was  a  sham.  Let  him  then,  when  his  mind  is  all  awake 
to  the  true,  the  just,  the  beautifnl,  study  out  tliis  system  of 
divine  truth  in  its  vast  proportions,  and  you  will  have  given 
him  an  inheritance  richer  than  all  the  stores  of  human  learn- 
ing, more  precious  and  abiding  than  all  material  benedictions. 
But  besides  all  this,  we  need  this  divine  word  as  the  most 
effective  influence  for  direct  moral  and  religious  culture.  In- 
tellectual convictions  are  indeed  of  incalculable  importance  ; 
but  unless  these  convictions  have  entered  the  heart,  so  as  to 
become  principles  of  action,  education  has  not  accomplished 
its  greatest  work.  The  higher  nature  of  man  lies  deepest  in 
the  soul.  From  the  secret  depths  where  thought  becomes 
emotion  and  conviction  principle,  the  influences  arise  that 
constitute  character.  This  is  the  richest  field  of  culture  : 
this  demands  the  profoundest  wisdom,  the  most  patient  effort, 
on  the  part  of  the  instructor.  It  is  with  respect  to  this,  more 
than  all  other  departments  of  his  work  he  feels  his  weakness. 
He  may  form  the  intellect,  but  how  shall  he  reach,  control, 
and  give  a  noble  character  to  the  secret  impulses  and  pur- 
poses ?  How  shall  he  get  access  to  that  heart,  chasten  its 
affections,  discipline  its  eager  desires,  subdue  its  wild  passions, 
waken  it  to  high  and  holy  aspirations  ?  It  is  here  he  feels 
the  need  of  that  which  is  divine :  here  he  must  call  to  his  aid 
influences  profound  as  the  nature,  and  mightier  than  the  pas- 
sions of  the  soul. 


40  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

There  is  a  period  in  life  when  the  youth  comes  forth  from 
the  control  of  the  parent :  when  the  power  of  his  awakening 
manhood  impels  him  to  independent  action :  when  he  ques- 
tions the  old  authority  and  law  becomes  the  synonym  of 
tyranny.  This  is  the  period  of  danger  ;  it  is  also  the  period 
of  hope.  It  is  the  period  of  danger  ;  for  now  passion  is  strong, 
while  the  sense  of  responsibility  is  weak.  The  youth  is  ani- 
mate with  the  joy  of  independence  :  he  feels  the  powers  of 
life  strong  within  :  he  is  specially  open  to  temptation.  Los- 
ing the  deep  respect  for  human  authority,  which  once  pos- 
sessed and  controlled  him,  he  has  not  yet  attained  that  rev- 
erential regard  for  a  higher  authority  which  constitutes  the 
moulding  principle  of  a  noble  and  pure  character.  He  enters 
college.  It  may  be  that  an  earthly  ambition  seizing  hold  of 
him,  checks  and  subdues  the  baser  passions.  He  assembles 
around  him  in  his  study  the  shades  of  the  mighty  dead  :  their 
name,  their  fame,  then-  glory  dazzle  and  entrance.  He  looks 
out  on  human  life.  The  prizes  of  this  world  attract  his  eye  : 
the  statesman,  the  orator,  the  man  successful  in  winning  sta- 
tion or  wealth,  power  or  fame,  loom  uj?  aloft  in  light :  he 
hears  the  voices  of  the  multitude  :  their  loud  acclaim,  their 
shouts  of  victory  are  borne  to  him  on  every  breeze.  His  pur- 
pose is  taken.  His  whole  soul  yields  itself  to  the  mighty  im- 
pulse. He  too  will  be  great :  he  too  will  ascend  these  heights, 
and  drink  in  the  intoxicating  breath  of  glory.  Or  it  may  be, 
these  things  seem  distant,  unapjiroachable.  Then  the  baser 
passions  rise  to  power  :  he  yields  himself  to  the  joy  of  a  pres- 
ent pleasm'e.  Perchance,  he  takes  the  intoxicating  cup  ; 
perchance  descends  to  brutal  indulgence ;  and  in  the  early 
prime  of  life,  he  shatters  immortal  j)Owers  and  darkens  the 
bright  promise  of  the  future.     This  is  the  danger. 

Yet  this  is  also  the  period  of  hope  ;  for  even  now  there 
may  be  inwrought  into  his  heart  the  principle  of  a  better  life. 
Into  this  young  soul  there  may  be  cast  seed  that  shall  spring 
up  in  beauty,  and  ripen  into  the  fruit  of  a  noble  character, 
whose  words  and  deeds  shall  be  full  of  power,  mighty  to  bless. 
On  us,  as  instructors,  rests  the  responsibility  of  guiding  this 


COLLEGIATE     EDUCATION.  41 

young  life  ;  and  just  here  it  is  we  feel  strong,  only  as  we  ally 
to  ourselves  a  power  divine.  We  seek  to  wield  the  influence 
of  all  others  the  most  mighty.  His  mind,  in  this  the  awaken- 
ing of  its  reflective  powers  and  its  sense  of  independence, 
must  be  brought  face  to  face  with  the  eternal  God.  Nothing 
but  religion,  first  in  its  teachings,  then  in  its  attendant  divine 
spirit,  can  give  success.  "  There  is,"  says  Coleridge,  "  but 
one  principle  which  alone  reconciles  the  man  with  himself, 
with  others  and  with  the  world  ;  which  regulates  all  rela- 
tions, tempers  all  passions,  gives  power  to  overcome  or  sup- 
port all  suffering,  and  which  is  not  to  be  shaken  by  aught 
earthly,  for  it  belongs  not  to  the  earth  ;  namely,  the  principle 
of  religion,  the  living  and  substantial  faith  ivMcli  passeth  all 
understanding,  as  the  cloud-piercing  rock  which  overhangs 
the  stronghold  of  which  it  had  been  the  quarry,  and  remains 
the  foundation.  This  elevation  of  the  spirit  above  the  sem- 
blances of  custom  and  the  senses,  to  a  world  of  spirit,  this 
life  in  the  idea,  even  in  the  supreme  and  Godlike,  which  alone 
merits  the  name  of  life,  and  without  which  our  organic  life  is 
but  a  state  of  somnambulism  :  this  it  is  which  affords  the 
soul  sure  anchorage  in  the  storm,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
substantiating  principle  of  all  true  wisdom,  the  satisfactory 
solution  of  all  the  contradictions  of  human  nature,  of  the 
whole  riddle  of  the  world."  This  is  the  princii)le  we  seek  to 
implant :  this  is  the  feeling  we  aim  to  awaken.  In  doing 
this,  we  take  this  method  of  study,  the  constant  use  of  God's 
word,  as  the  most  impressive  power  ordained  of  Him  who 
gave  it  to  us  for  this  purpose.  In  thus  seeking  to  bring  it 
home  to  the  mind  and  hearts  of  our  youth  as  a  means  of  moral 
and  religious  culture,  we  can  seek  intelligently  and  in  faith 
for  assistance  from  above,  through  which  alone  the  heart  can 
be  renovated,  and  the  whole  soul  consecrated  to  its  highest 
end,  and  made  meet  for  its  noblest  destiny. 

An  education  like  this,  comprising  in  itself  the  broadest 
discipline  of  the  intellect  and  the  finest  culture  of  the  heart, 
must  issue  in  the  grandest  results.  It  allies  to  it  all  powers 
of  influence,  divine  and  human,  that  are  most  pure  and  ele- 


42 


EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 


vating.  It  will  quicken  the  conscience,  purify  the  passions, 
implant  right  principles  of  action,  if  any  course  can  do  it.  It 
will  create  a  manly,  earnest,  and  refined  cliaracter.  It  will 
give  to  an  educated  mind  an  infallible  test  of  truth,  and  clothe 
its  demonstrations  with  an  ennobling  power. 

Our  public  men  will  feel  its  elevating  influence,  aiding 
them  to  lead  on  in  all  things  just  and  pure.  It  will  impart 
to  that  mighty  agency,  the  Press,  and  to  our  national  litera- 
ture, a  higher  power,  a  more  earnest  tone.  It  will  constitute 
the  strongest  bulwark  of  liberty  :  the  best  safeguard  of  our 
free  institutions.  Giving  to  our  colleges  a  heart  that  beats 
with  an  ennobling  life  ;  it  will  consecrate  their  influence  to 
religion  and  the  finest  culture  of  the  intellect. 

Such  are  the  views  of  Collegiate  Education  which,  on  this 
occasion  of  deepest  interest  to  the  friends  of  this  institution,  I 
have  felt  it  my  duty  to  express.  They  are  not  the  views  of  a 
sect ;  they  are  broad  as  Christianity  itself.  I  rejoice  to  know 
they  are  all  in  harmony  with  the  sentiments  of  those  of  you 
who  have  the  control  and  conduct  of  its  affairs.  You  would 
not  take  from  the  young  mind  its  only  safe,  its  only  infallible 
guide  through  this  dark  world  ;  you  would  give  to  it  a  higher 
position  rather.  You  would  make  this  institution  not  only 
the  brightest  light  of  the  intellect,  but  of  the  heart.  Nay  ; 
turning  from  the  living,  from  you,*  sir,  whose  heart  beats  re- 
sponsive to  these  sentiments,  you  who  for  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century  have  given  to  this  college  the  entire  influence  of 
an  accurate,  a  refined,  a  Christian  scholarship,  and  now  have 
added  the  dignity  of  your  presence  on  this  festival  occasion  ; 
turning  from  these  instructors  whose  thoughts  on  this  great 
theme  I  know  are  all  in  accord  with  my  own  ; — from  the  living 
here,  I  look  upward  to  the  living  there  :  to  him,  the  Missionary 
of  Jesus,  who  here,  out  in  the  wilderness.,  on  the  frontiers  of 
civilization,  laid  the  broad  foundations  of  this  institution,  laid 
them  on  the  rock  of  Calvary  :  to  those  who  for  so  many  yeara 
presided  over  it,  and  have  now  passed  away.  Could  they 
speak,  could  spirits  departed,  with  all  the  intelligence  they 

*  Referrinjr  to  Ex-President  North. 


COLLEGIATE  EDUCATION.  43 

have  now  attained,  tell  us  what  they  think  of  Christian  edu- 
cation ;  can  we  doubt  what  would  be  their  testimony  ? 

And  now,  my  friends,  let  us  not  separate  on  this  occasion 
without  the  resolution  that  we  will  seek  to  perpetuate  these 
higher  institutions  of  Christian  education,'  to  augment  their 
resources  and  give  them  greater  power  to  bless  our  country. 
Colleges,  like  many  other  things,  have  their  laws  of  growth, 
their  periods  of  expansion  and  progress.  Intimately  connected 
with  the  highest  civilization  of  a  people,  they  measure  their 
progress  in  art,  in  science,  in  national  wealth.  Where  the 
forests  still  hold  their  ancient  reign  almost  unbroken,  it  is  fit 
the  school-house  should  rise  beside  the  log  cabin.  As  these 
forests  disappear  and  cultivated  farms  delight  the  eye,  the 
academy  crowns  the  hill-toiD  and  speaks  a  fuller,  broader  edu- 
cation. As  material  wealth  advances,  at  length  the  college 
with  its  solid  structure  opens  its  doors,  and  proclaims  an  ad- 
vancing culture.  This  State  has  fully  outgrown  the  limits  of 
pioneer  life.  It  has  advanced  from  the  state  of  dependence 
and  weakness,  to  the  seat  of  empire.  On  every  side  cities, 
towns,  villages,  all  the  signs  of  an  advancing  national  civiliza- 
tion, of  an  industrious,  a  thriving,  an  enterprising  population, 
crowd  the  landscape.  The  State  wielding  the  scepter  of  em- 
pire should  have  institutions  of  learning  corresponding  with 
her  greatness  :  these  constitute  the  most  unmistakable  signs 
of  the  intelligence  and  foresight  of  her  people  "  Literature 
becomes  free  institutions.  It  is  the  graceful  ornament  of 
civil  liberty  and  a  happy  restraint  on  the  asperities  which 
political  controversy  sometimes  occasions.  Just  taste  is  not 
only  an  embellishment  of  society,  but  it  rises  almost  to  the 
rank  of  the  virtues,  and  diifuses  positive  good  throughout  the 
whole  extent  of  its  influence.  There  is  a  connection  between 
right  feeling  and  right  principles  ;  and  truth  in  taste  is  allied 
to  truth  in  morality.  With  nothing  in  our  past  history  to 
discourage  us,  and  with  something  in  our  present  condition 
and  prospects  to  animate  us  ;  let  us  hope  that  as  it  is  our 
fortune  to  live  in  an  age  when  we  may  behold  a  wonderful 
advancement  of  this  countrv  in  all  its  oth'^rin-^-'^v.'^.^^-c   w^  »«':.■<.• 


44  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

see  also  equal  progress  and  success  attend  the  cause  of  letters." 
Thus  spake  the  statesman  standing  on  Plymouth  Rock.  1 
echo  these  words  in  your  hearing  to-day  :  nay,  I  ascend  to  a 
still  higher  position.  These  Christian  institutions  are  not 
only  tributary  to  the  diffusion  of  a  con-ect  literature  ;  they 
are  equally  essential  to  the  advance  of  religion  and  the  high- 
est civilization.  They  go  down  in  their  influence  through  all 
society.  They  build  up  the  common  school :  they  rear  the 
academy  :  they  aid  the  press  :  they  cultivate  art  :  they  refine 
the  rude  :  they  multiply  sources  of  wealth  :  they  qualify  men 
for  positions  of  trust  and  influence  :  they  stand  among  the 
foremost  guardians  of  the  liberties  of  the  State,  and  imj)art  to 
her  the  luster  of  high  intelligence.  They  minister  at  the  bed- 
side of  the  sick  ;  plead  in  the  forum  of  justice  ;  utter  their 
judgments  on  the  bench  ;  frame  law  in  the  halls  of  State  ; 
proclaim  the  gosjiel  in  the  pulpit ;  and  send  forth  their  words 
of  light  and  truth  to  delight,  ennoble,  and  mould  the  minds  of 
the  millions  of  our  stirring  jwpulation.  They  give  us  influ- 
ence and  renown  abroad.  They  rule  on  the  sea  and  on  the 
land  ;  and  wherever  the  attribute  of  intelligence,  joined  with 
just  principles  is  mighty,  there  their  works  are  seen,  their  in- 
fluence felt.  Shall  such  institutions  as  these  fail  of  the  ap- 
l^reciation  and  support  of  a  noble  people  ?  Shall  a  State  like 
this  be  a  pensioner  on  others  for  that  higher  education  wdiich 
she  seeks  for  her  children  ?  Will  not  her  men  of  wealth  covet 
for  themselves  the  honor  of  building  higher  the  walls  of  these 
institutions  ?  Will  not  her  men  of  far-seeing  intelligence 
lend  them  all  the  influence  of  their  wisdom  .^  Will  not  the 
sons  of  the  State  gather  round  their  own  homes  the  power 
and  the  glory  of  these  nobler  possessions  .^  Will  not  the 
statesmen  who  understand  the  true  foundations  of  govern- 
ment, the  ministers  who  are  awake  to  the  spread  of  an  intelli- 
gent religious  faith,  and  all  who  love  the  best  interests  of 
man,  come  round  these  institutions  of  Christian  education  ; 
resolved  to  advance  them  to  that  position  of  prosperity  and 
influence,  which  corresponds  with  the  greatness  of  our  hopes 
for  the  onward  progress  of  this  people,  in  all  that  can  adorn, 


COLLEGIATE     EDUCATION.  45 

exalt,  and  bless  ?  Then  shall  this  institution,  founded  in 
prayer,  enriched  by  the  labors  of  men  now  ascended  to  their 
reward,  already  through  its  thousand  Alumni,  shedding  bene- 
dictions on  every  part  of  our  common  country,  attain  a  still 
liigher  position  of  influence,  and  send  forth  a  wider  stream  of 
light.  Let  us,  fellow-laborers  in  the  cause  of  letters  and 
Christian  science,  fellow-citizens  of  this  great  State  and  of 
this  our  glorious  country,  and  you,  young  men,  the  whole- 
hearted and  the  true,  who  have  gone  forth  from  these  Halls  ; 
let  us  retire  hence,  resolved  by  all  just  means  to  make  the 
bright  promise  of  the  present  a  grand  reality  in  the  future, 
saying  as  we  go  :  "  Peace  be  within  thy  walls  and  prosperity 
within  thy  palaces.  For  my  brethren  and  companions'  sake, 
I  will  now  say.  Peace  be  within  thee.  Because  of  the  house 
of  the  Lord  our  God,  I  will  seek  thy  good." 


II. 

THEOLOGICAL    TRAINING.* 

Young  Gentlemen  : 

In  addressing  you  this  evening,  it  has  been  intimated  to 
me,  that  I  need  not  limit  my  remarks  to  the  subject  of  rhet- 
oric, the  cultivation  of  which  constitutes  the  chief  object  of 
this  society.  After  an  experience  of  twenty  years  in  the 
ministry,  I  have  felt  desirous,  on  this  occasion,  of  stating  to 
you  some  of  the  general  principles  which  should  enter  into 
and  characterize  the  specific  culture  of  a  minister  of  Christ, 
in  contradistinction  to  that  wliich  belongs  to  the  other  pro- 
fessions. In  doing  this  I  may  aid  you  in  your  jjreparation 
for  your  work  of  preaching,  just  as  much  as  if  that  work  were 
alone  before  us.  Cicero  makes  his  orator  a  man  of  large 
knowledge.  He  extends  his  views  to  a  wide  range  of  sub- 
jects, in  order  to  qualify  him  for  the  specific  rank  of  a  civil 
pleader.  He  makes  a  broad  experience  and  extended  cul- 
ture in  various  directions,  a  discipline  for  the  work  of  speak- 
ing with  success.  And  thus  in  the  ministry,  I  would  lay  the 
foundations  for  a  successful  presentation  of  the  truth  back  in 
the  thorough  mastery  of  all  the  knowledge  and  experience 
whi(;h  enter  into  the  formation  of  an  elevated  ministerial  char- 
acter. The  construction  of  sentences,  the  modulation  of  the 
voice,  which  constitute  so  large  a  portion  of  rhetoric  as  com- 
monly received,  important  as  they  may  be,  yet  hold  a  subor- 
dinate position  among  the  varied  qualifications  of  an  able 
l^reacher.  Sacred  rhetoric,  in  its  profoundest  spirit  and  genius, 
rises  far  above  the  artificial  form  often  given  to  it  in  populai 

■"  Address  before  the  Rhetorical  Society  of  the  Auburn  Seminary,  May  2d, 
1859. 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  47 

treatises.  It  is  not  a  mask  which  a  man  puts  on  when  he 
enters  the  pulpit,  to  hide  his  own  poverty  of  thought.  The 
minister  is  not  a  stage-actor,  strutting  in  royal  robes  this 
hour,  the  next  a  coarse,  vulgar,  ignorant  nature.  In  him 
rhetoric  should  be  the  expression  of  his  own  mental  habitudes, 
the  unvailing  of  his  own  richly  stored  intellect  and  heart,  the 
resultant  of  all  the  protracted  discipline  of  his  life  revealing 
itself  in  speech  adapted  to  inform,  arouse,  and  guide  the 
minds  of  men.  The  knowledge  gathered  from  a  thousand 
sources  ;  the  mental  processes  by  which  his  intellect  has  been 
trained  to  discriminate,  combine,  create ;  the  experience 
through  which  divine  truth  has  gone  into,  and  become  a  vital 
element  of  his  spiritual  life  ;  the  struggles,  the  defeats,  the  vic- 
tories in  which  faith  and  sight,  spirit  and  sense  the  supernat- 
ural and  the  natural  have  involved  him,  all  these,  converging 
together,  should  come  forth  harmoniously  blended  and  inter- 
woven in  that  grandest  work,  the  preaching  of  the  gospel- 
This  priestly  and  regal  robe  he  should  wear  as  the  expression 
of  a  regal  and  priestly  character.  It  belongs  not  to  the  jduI- 
pit  alone.  It  is  the  living,  daily  aspect  and  power  of  such  a 
mind,  informed  with  such  intelligence,  consecrated  to  such 
a  work.  The  utterances  of  the  pulpit  should  be  the  utter- 
ances of  the  fireside  expanded  and  intensified  to  meet  the 
same  varied  wants  of  the  larger  audience.  A  man's  preaching 
in  its  thought,  emotion,  expression,  should  bear  the  stamp  of 
his  own  nature,  his  own  ex^^erience.  It  should  be  something 
which  no  other  man  could  put  on  without  doing  violence  to 
truth  ;  it  should  be  something  not  borrowed,  not  assumed, 
but  the  outgrowth  of  his  own  spirit  under  all  the  various  in- 
fiuences  of  education  and  divine  discipline.  Every  man  is 
necessarily  one-sided,  imperfect.  All  things  that  go  from  him 
are  colored,  just  so  far  as  tiiey  are  his,  by  the  peculiarity  of 
his  own  nature  and  experience.  Truth  in  its  essence  may  be 
one  ;  but  truth  in  experience  and  life,  truth  therefore  as  the 
expression  of  that  experience  and  life  is  various  as  the  forms 
of  vegetable  existence,  various  as  the  clouds  and  stars  of  the 
firmament.    The  gospel  is  one  ;  yet  is  it  revealed  to  us  not  in 


48 


EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES, 


absolute  formulas  of  faith,  so  much  as  in  the  parti-colored 
lines  of  the  individual  writers.  Paul  and  John  and  Peter  and 
James  embraced  it  ;  yet  what  a  delightful  variety,  as  of  the 
same  landscape  seen  from  different  positions  and  under  dif- 
ferent light  and  shade,  does  their  expression  of  it,  their  rhe- 
torical exhibition  of  it  reveal  ?  They  proclaimed  it  as  they 
felt  it ;  as  it  had  wrought  itself  into  their  life,  through  their 
separate,  their  peculiar  experience,  and  in  harmony  with  their 
own  strongly-marked  and  contrasted  natures.  Thus  should 
it  be  with  our  rhetoric.  It  should  be  the  expression  of 
our  knowledge  in  the  form  given  to  it  by  our  natural  consti- 
tution, experience  and  discipline.  Neither  in  this,  nor  in 
any  thing  else  of  tliis  high  import,  should  we  call  any  man 
"  master." 

In  asking  your  attention  therefore  to  some  remarks  on  the 
course  of  preparation  specially  adapted  to  the  ministiy,  you 
will  recognize,  I  trust,  a  purpose  to  contribute  what  is  in  my 
power  to  assist  you  in  becoming  successful  preachers  of  the 
word. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss  here  the  character  of  that 
general  discipline  which  should  precede  the  special  training 
of  the  professions.  That  mathematical  and  classical  culture 
which  belongs  to  the  college,  is  presupposed.  We  take  it  for 
granted  that,  in  entering  upon  the  special  studies  connected 
with  the  ministry,  the  student  has  attained  that  mental  power 
which  a  collegiate  course  is  adapted  to  impart.  In  connection 
with  this,  however,  you  will  permit  me  to  make  a  single  sug- 
gestion. Scarcely  any  thing  is  better  fitted  to  give  accuracy 
and  finish  to  scholarship  than  the  careful  review  of  our  early 
course  of  study.  To  secure  this  end  it  is  not  necessary  we 
should  go  over  all  the  parts  of  our  academical  curriculum. 
Take  a  single  oration  of  Demosthenes,  and  another  of  Cicero  ; 
take  one  or  two  of  the  dialogues  of  Plato  and  the  treatise  De 
Offlciis,  and  spend  a  few  hours  each  week  on  them  in  suc- 
cession, so  that  they  may  occupy  you  for  months  and  even 
years  ;  read  in  connection  with  them  the  history  of  the  times 
in  which  they  were  written  and  the  contemporary  philosophy 


THEOLOGICAL     TEAINIIiG.  49 

out  of  wliicli  they  grew  ;  let  Newton's  Principia  and  Bacon's 
Novum  Organuni  lie  on  your  table  ;  resort  to  the  first  for  the 
purpose  of  cultivating  concentration  of  thought,  and  to  the 
second  as  an  assistant  in  obtaining  the  natural  method  of 
philosophising ;  and  you  will  find  that  with  little  cost  of  time 
and  labor,  you  will  be  able  to  keep  your  classical  knowledge 
frcish,  while  your  power  of  discrimination  and  vigor  of 
thought  will  be  maintained  amidst  the  dissipating  cares  and 
miscellaneous  work  of  a  minister  of  Christ. 

Now  with  all  this  understood,  the  question  for  us  to  set- 
tle is.  What  is  that  peculiar  education  which  belongs  to  the 
ministry  in  distinction  from  the  other  professions  ?  And 
hence,  I  take  it,  the  j)osition  which  the  minister  is  to  occupy 
settles  at  once  the  character  of  his  education.  He  is  to  be 
trained  for  this  position,  this  sphere  of  life,  and  not  for  an- 
other, however  noble  and  excellent  that  other  may  be.  What, 
then,  is  the  fundamental  idea  which  underlies  the  whole  of  a 
minister's  life  ;  which  sets  him  off  from  all  other  men  ;  which 
gives  him  a  peculiar  character,  a  peculiar  link,  and  a  peculiar 
jjlace  in  the  whole  economy  of  society  .^  Briefly  this — the 
spiritual  in  contrast  tvith  the  natural  ;  the  eternal  in  con- 
trast ivith  tlic  temporal.  I  do  not  mean  that  his  position  has 
no  relations  to  the  natural  and  the  temporal.  Far  from  it ; 
these  relations  are  large  and  vastly  influential.  But  these  are 
not  the  things  which  constitute  the  essential  elements  of  his 
position,  or  the  grand  forces  with  which  he  is  to  deal.  The 
physician  deals  directly  with  natural  laws ;  the  lawyer  with 
temporal  relations.  These  are  the  chief  characteristics  of  their 
position  ;  these  define  their  work  in  society.  But  the  minister 
has  to  do  directly  with  things  spiritual,  and  his  power  comes 
mainly  from  ideas  and  influences  that  are  connected  with 
spiritual  existence  extending  its  reign  into  the  eternal  and  the 
infinite.  First  of  all  he  has  to  do  with  a  science  which  relates 
primaiily  to  the  spiritual  rather  than  the  sensible.  It  is  the- 
ology, not  anthropology,  nor  geology.  It  is  the  science  of  that 
spiritual  existence  which  man  apprehends  only  by  fiiith  ;  it 
is  the  knowledge  of  this  infinite  in  his  relations  to  the  finite. 

4 


50  EDUCATIONAL      DISCO  UKSES. 

And  so,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  science  of  the  immortal 
and  the  religious  nature  of  man  as  related  to  this  divine 
Creator,  rather  than  the  knowledge  of  that  part  of  him  which 
is  perishable  in  his  nature  and  temporary  in  his  relations. 
This  I  say  is  the  original,  the  characteristic  feature  of  the 
minister  of  the  gospel.     Hence  the  material  with  which  he 
has  to  work,  the  primary  source  of  his  intelligence,  is  spirit- 
ual.     It  is  abstract  truth  ;    truth  written,   in  contrast  to 
truth  in  creation.    It  is  truth  deoTTvevar — God-breatlied — and 
therefore  spiritual.     It  is  not  the  book  of  nature,  however 
full  and  glorious  may  be  its  impress.     It  is  the  book  of  j^ure 
thought,  addressed  to  the  eyes  of  the  spirit,  speaking  to  the 
conscience  and  the  reason  alone,  uttering  truths  which  nature 
never  uttered,  or  man's  reason  from  nature  never  attained. 
Its  central  sun,  its  grandest  revelation — Jesus   Christ  and 
him  crucified — is  not  an  orb  that  flames  in  the  natural  crea- 
tion, an  orb  that  the  telescope  can  reveal.     The  whole  sys- 
tem which  rests  on  him  as  its  corner,  which  grows  out  of  him 
as  its  root,  which  is  crowned  by  him  as  its  chief  glory,  which 
by  figures  various  and  multiplied  is  identified  with  him  as  its 
center  and  circumference,  is  wdiolly  outside  of  creation,  far, 
far  above  all  merely  human  inventions  and  all  earthly  science. 
What  medical  diagnosis  ever  resolved  man's  real  state  in 
God's  universe  ?  or  what  natural  science  ever  demonstrated 
the  laws  of  the  spirit  ?  what  code  of  jurisprudence  ever  recog- 
nized and  unfolded  the  grand  idea  of  divine  mercy  ?   wdiat 
human  philosophy  ever  advanced  one  step  beyond  the  vesti- 
bule of  man's  relations  to  the  infinite  ?    This  is  the  region  of 
spiritual  ideas,  breathed  into  man  by  the  infinite  Sjurit,  re- 
corded in  words  that  address  themselves  directly  and  alone  to 
the  human  spirit.     And  these  constitute  the  chief  elements 
of  that  science  which  the  minister  is  to  unfold. 

Nay,  more.  The  church  which  he  is  to  cherish,  to  edu- 
cate, and,  as  God's  instrument,  create  and  perpetuate,  is  not  a 
creation  of  natural  laws  ;  its  distinctive  character  is  spiritual ; 
it  is  a  palingenesia,  a  new  birth — a  new  creation,  born  from 
above,  in  its  origin  directly  divine,  in  its  continuance  deriving 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  51 

all  its  vitality  from  a  force  which  is  above  nature,  and  in  its 
end  rising  to  a  pure,  spiritual  existence.  Conscience  and  the 
heart  are  made  subject  to  an  invisible  rule  ;  the  reason  is  here 
illuminated  by  a  divine,  supernatural  light  ;  the  life  con- 
trolled and  disciplined  by  a  divine  effluence,  such  as  creation 
never  knew,  and  eld  never  put  forth — while  the  whole  of  this 
work  of  preparation  in  the  Church  itself  takes  hold  of  eternity, 
ascends  to  the  throne  of  G-od,  brings  forth  that  living,  holy 
creation  which,  as  the  bride,  the  Saviour's  wife,  is  to  shine 
for  ever  at  the  right  hand,  and  on  the  bosom  of  Jesus  Christ. 

And  finally,  the  effective  power,  the  secret  and  life-giving 
energy  wdiich  makes  this  man's  ministry  an  eternal  success, 
a  glory  above  the  stars  and  the  angels,  is  wholly  sjiiritual.  It 
is  not  a  nice  adjustment  of  means  to  ends  ;  it  is  not  the  force 
of  natural  eloquence,  nor  the  power  of  direct  impression 
springing  from  a  cultivated  intellect,  well-modulated  voice, 
nor  the  most  skillful  unfolding  and  reiteration  of  truth,  how- 
ever noble,  that  gives  him  success.  His  true  children  are  born 
of  the  Spirit ;  his  whole  vitality  and  efficiency  as  the  conse- 
crated preacher  of  the  gospel  is  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
This  presides  over  his  studies,  this  flashes  light  along  the 
heaven-sent  message,  this  makes  his  W'Ords  thrill  through 
the  conscience,  and  wakes  up  responsive  affections  in  the 
dead  heart.  This,  and  this  alone,  clothes  him  with  power, 
and,  in  connection  with  his  labors,  makes  the  Sahara  of  na- 
ture blossom  like  Sharon,  and  so  prepares  him  to  shine  like 
the  stars  in  the  brighter  firmament  of  the  heavenly  world  for 
ever. 

But  while  the  position  of  the  minister  is  thus  chiefly 
characterized  by  its  relation  to  the  spiritual  and  eternal,  yet 
is  it  not  limited  to  these  relations.  It  is  central,  at  the  heart 
of  society,  acting  influentially  upon  all  its  vital  powers.  It 
touches  thus  two  worlds.  It  underlies  all  other  influences, 
controls  or  modifies  them,  reduces  them  into  harmony.  Just 
as  conscience  and  the  higher  nature  of  man  must  be  supreme 
over  all  human  as  well  as  divine  relations,  in  order  to  bring 
the  passions  into  subjection  and  liberate  the  will  in  its  out- 


52  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

goings  from  their  despotic  sway,  so  the  position  of  Christ's 
minister  will  necessarily  affect  the  earthy  as  well  as  the  divine, 
the  moral  as  well  as  the  religious  in  all  society.  Just  as  con- 
science is  related  to  man,  so  the  work  of  the  minister  is  related 
to  all  h^^man  interests.  It  touches  directly  or  indirectly  all 
parts  of  life,  all  enterprises  of  time.  Thrift,  business,  health, 
peacefulness,  intelligence,  art,  liberty,  come  within  the  circle 
of  its  beneficent  influence.  Its  grand  characteristic  is  indeed 
that  it  deals  directly  with  our  relations  to  God,  and  mth  those 
to  man  only  as  subordinate.  But,  in  doing  this,  it  brings  the 
supernatural  down  to  the  natural ;  it  lifts  the  material  up  to 
the  sj)iritual,  and  so  moves  upon  man  in  his  whole  being  as 
on  one  side  related  to  God  and  immortal,  and  on  the  other 
related  to  the  earth  and  perishable.  Such  is  the  position  of 
an  ambassador  of  Christ.  Now  the  knowledge  of  this  posi- 
tion is  the  key  that  unlocks  the  whole  system  of  training 
peculiar  to  the  ministry.  This  training  must  bear  directly 
upon  those  attainments  which  fit  him  to  occupy  so  exalted  a 
position.  It  is  not  the  lawyer,  the  engineer,  the  physician, 
the  merchant,  the  artist,  the  literary  or  moral  reform  lec- 
turer, that  is  to  stand  on  this  eminence.  It  is  a  character  of 
another  stamp  ;  a  mind  and  heart  educated  by  a  process  dif- 
ferent from  those  which  give  them  a  special  aptitude  for  their 
work.  Hero  all  the  lines  of  education  should  converge  to  the 
point  of  augmenting  his  power  as  a  spiritual  agency  designed 
to  mold'  hearts  and  consciences  for  the  life  of  God.  Every 
thing  should  be  made  subordinate  and  subsidiary  to  this  end. 
I  say  this  preacher  of  the  gospel  must  be  educated  to  preach. 
The  days  of  miracles  are  past.  Divine  influence  consecrates 
and  cooperates  with  human  powers.  It  blesses  the  patient 
kibo7rr;  it  exalts  the  processes  of  thought;  it  seconds  mental 
discipline  ;  it  uses  weapons  shaped  and  sharpened  in  the  forge 
of  consecrated  science.  It  has  no  sympathy  with  ignorance, 
stupidity,  shallowness,  and  while  it  can  give  Samson  strength 
to  slay  his  thousands  with  the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass,  as  a  special 
vindication  of  its  sovereignty,  yet  he  who  should  now  go  to 
war  with  such  a  weapon,  would  both  betray  his  ignorance  of 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  53 

the  usual  metliod  of  the  divine  operation,  and  inevitably  se- 
cure his  own  defeat. 

In  respect  to  this  position,  it  is  obvious  tliat  its  first  de- 
partment of  education  is  subjective  culture,  that  mainly  of 
the  heart.  This  man  who  is  to  preach,  must  ground  his 
preaching  largely  on  his  ow^n  knowledge  of  his  own  nature  and 
wants.  He  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  race.  He  not  only  par- 
takes of  human  nature,  but  of  a  fallen  nature — the  nature 
Christ  came  to  purify  and  save.  He  who  is  to  minister  to 
others  is  himself  compassed  about  with  their  infirmities.  His 
preaching,  so  far  as  it  is  effective,  will  take  its  color  and  form 
from  his  knowledge  of  man's  nature  and  the  adaptation  of  the 
gospel  to  this  nature.  Without  experience  he  will  talk  as  blind 
men  talk  of  colors,  as  deaf  men  talk  of  nmsic.  Now  in  this 
jjroccss  of  education  there  are  three  things  to  be  secured. 
First,  the  knowledge  of  human  nature — of  that  nature  in  all 
its  actual  weakness  and  capacity  for  greatness — in  all  its  incon- 
sistencies, excesses,  disorders,  depravity.  He  must  know  it  in 
its  sublime  capacities  made  subject  to  and  nullified  by  earthly 
tendencies.  He  must  know  it  in  its  native,  stubborn  aliena- 
tion from  Grod,  and  in  its  conscience  half  blinded  by  sin.  And 
to  gain  this  knowledge  of  the  disease  to  which  he  is  to  apply 
the  remedy,  he  must  study  his  own  heart ;  introverting  his 
thought,  he  must  learn  to  see  himself  as  heart,  will,  intellect, 
work  themselves  out,  mutually  influential  on  the  various  cir- 
cumstances of  life.  Into  this  world  so  profound,  so  strange  ; 
into  this  sea  so  calm,  so  tempestuous,  so  turbid,  so  seemingly 
pure,  so  amazingly  deceptive  and  deceitful,  he  must  learn  to 
cast  his  lead,  and  understand  its  currents,  and  analyze  its  na- 
ture, and  trace  out  the  influences  which  most  aifect  it.  Then 
going  out  from  this  study,  which  may  long  bafile  and  puzzle 
his  intensest  scrutiny,  he  must  see  the  counterpart  of  himself 
in  what  man  has  been.  He  must  read  nature  in  the  mild- 
ness of  Chrysostom,  in  the  ferocity  of  Caligula,  in  the  libertin- 
ism of  Augustine,  in  the  scowling  bitterness  of  Voltaire,  in 
the  philosophical  skepticism  of  Hume,  in  the  vulgar  and)ition 
of  a  Cajsar,  the  intense  love  of  honorable  fame  of  a  Cic_,ero. 


54  EDUCATIONAL      DISCOURSES. 

He  must  study  himself  in  the  amiable,  the  refined,  the  vulgar, 
the  lustful,  the  bloody,  the  ambitious  examples  of  human 
nature  that  crowd  the  past.  Nor  is  this  the  limit  of  his  study 
in  this  direction.  For  men  are  all  around  ;  human  nature  is 
revealing  itself  under  all  forms  of  life  on  every  side  of  him. 
He  must  come  in  direct  contact  with  men  just  as  they  are. 
He  must  learn  their  littlenesses,  their  meanness,  their  poverty 
of  thought,  their  poverty  of  self-support,  their  powerlessness 
for  self-elevation,  their  assumed  morality,  their  gigantic  pride, 
their  intense  selfishness,  their  nobler  impulses  crippled,  de- 
feated by  the  secret  despotism  of  earthy  j^assions.  Under- 
standing himself  from  his  own  conscious  experience,  and  fill- 
ing out  what  is  imperfect  in  that  experience  by  observation 
on  man  in  the  past  and  present,  he  will  lay  the  foundation 
for  progress  in  the  practical  knowledge  of  the  science  of  Ee- 
demption.  on  the  infallible  conviction  of  the  utter  ruin  in 
which  the  soul  is  involved.  No  man  can  begin  to  pull  down 
the  strongholds  of  sin  until  he  has  measured  their  strength  ; 
he  can  not  preach  a  Saviour  until  he  knows  from  what  men 
are  to  be  saved  ;  he  can  not  build  a  new  temple  in  the  human 
heart  until  the  rubbish  and  rotten  timbers  of  the  old  have 
been  taken  away. 

But  when  he  has  gone  thus  far  in  this  subjective  process, 
he  has  only  begun  the  work.  He  has  made  plain  the  ruin, 
but  he  has  not  repaired  that  ruin.  Now  commences  anothei-, 
a  higher  process.  It  is  no  longer  the  process  of  destruction, 
but  of  construction  ;  it  is  not  the  work  of  casting  down,  but 
of  rearing  the  veritable  temple  of  holiness  in  all  its  primal 
beauty.  Now  the  words  of  divine  tmth  become  vital,  life- 
giving  ;  promises  rise  to  realities  ;  the  will  delivered  from  its 
bondage  to  the  earthy,  rejoices  in  the  freedom  of  subjec- 
tion to  its  heavenly  sovereign  ;  new  affections  spring  into 
existence  ;  Faith  leads  on  the  sublime  procession.  Love  follows 
with  her  train  of  graces,  and  Hope  begins  to  sing  her  epithala- 
miums  over  the  union  of  the  soul  to  Jesus  and  the  blessed- 
ness of  the  glory  that  is  to  be  revealed.  This  process  of  rear- 
ing the  new  man  to  a  Christ-like  stature  is  full  of  paradoxes 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  55 

and  wonders.  Advancing,  then  seeming  to  retreat ;  exalted 
to-day,  cast  down  to-morrow  ;  hungering  after  God  for  a 
time,  then  feeling  the  returning  desire  of  the  world  wax 
strong  within  him  ;  buffeted  by  all  winds,  tempted  by  all 
forms  of  pleasure,  beset  by  malignant  foes  on  all  sides  ;  then 
riding  calmly  at  anchor  with  Jesus  in  the  vessel  and  the 
tempter  gone  ;  thus  the  soul  ascends  to  victory.  This  is  that 
subjective  culture  through  which  the  young  minister  gains  his 
highest  fitness  for  his  work.  In  this  the  Scriptures  reveal 
their  freshness,  their  vitality,  their  adaptation  to  all  the  as- 
pects of  his  life.  Here  they  become  elements  of  that  life,  they 
are  wrought  into  his  deepest  experiences,  they  carry  with  them 
a  stronger  evidence  of  their  divine  original  than  do  the  stars 
or  the  flowers.  Gradually  invigorating  the  will  for  the  right, 
working  themselves  through  and  through  the  entire  actings 
of  the  spirit,  they  become  a  life  of  thought,  of  feeling,  of 
action.  He  turns  to  them  as  the  babe  goes  to  its  mother's 
breast  ;  in  darkness  they  are  his  light  ;  in  sorrow  his  conso- 
lation ;  in  defeat  his  triumphant  recovery,  through  which  his 
very  sins  become  a  ladder  along  which  he  rises  nearer  the  throne. 
And  here  I  must  insist  upon  a  broad  distinction  between 
this  subjective  culture  and  that  which  is  objective.  It  is 
one  thing  to  classify  and  arrange  and  combine  and  even 
unfold  eloquently  the  system  of  divine  truth  ;  it  is  another 
and  a  far  higher  attainment  to  enthrone  this  truth  in  all  its 
quickening  power  within  the  soul  itself.  To  preach  learnedly, 
classically  ;  to  construct  sermons  according  to  the  finest  rules 
of  composition,  and  deliver  them  with  all  the  art  of  rhetoric,  is 
one  thing  ;  but  to  preach  Christ  and  him  crucified  out  of  a 
heart  that  has  been  crucified  with  him  and  knows  how  to  lay 
our  sins  upon  him  and  center  all  our  hopes  in  him,  is  quite  an- 
other thing.  And  as  in  the  ministry  there  is  a  perpetual  and 
a  mighty  tendency  toward  the  first ;  as  in  us  the  most  subtle 
of  all  temptations  is  that  which  addresses  our  ambition, 
which  tends  insensibly  to  make  preaching  an  art,  a  trade,  a 
business,  so  does  it  become  you  to  guard  against  this  with  an 
undying  vigilance.     Preaching  is  not  an  art ;  no  rules  can 


56  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

compass  it ;  no  forms  can  create  it.  It  is  a  living  product 
of  a  living  soul  ;  it  is  an  intelligence,  revealing  itself  to  otliers 
indeed,  but  then  it  is  an  intelligence  compounded  of  light  and 
heat,  of  thought  warmed  in  the  heart,  vivified  by  experience. 
Of  some  truths  there  may  be  a  clear  statement,  a  splendid  dis- 
cussion, an  eloquent  unfolding,  in  which  the  intellect  and  the 
natural  emotions  alone  have  part.  But  when  you  come  to 
connect  these  truths  with  the  whole  system  ;  when  you  are  to 
make  them  take  their  place,  not  as  cold  dogmas,  but  as  living 
jiarts  of  a  living  whole  ;  when  they  are  to  be  made  the  wis- 
dom of  God  and  the.  poiver  of  God  unto  salvation,  then  they 
must  come  forth  mingled  with,  intensified  by  the  theology  of 
a  rare  experience ;  then,  and  only  then,  do  they  become  the 
compound  blow-pipe  in  whose  flame  the  human  heart  so  melts 
that  it  can  readily  take  the  impress  of  the  divine  image.  And 
so  it  often  ha})pens  that  the  minister  who  has  advanced  pro- 
foundly into  this  inward  culture,  doth  usually  surj^ass  another 
vastly  his  superior  in  native  gifts  and  intellectual  attain- 
ments, in  the  vigor  and  success  with  which  he  prosecutes  the 
great  work  of  preaching  the  gospel.  But  when  both  are  com- 
bined, there  comes  forth  a  Paul  from  his  synagogue,  a  Chry- 
sostom  from  his  cathedral,  a  Luther  from  his  convent,  the 
grandest  incarnation  of  human  thought  and  action  and  in- 
fluence. 

In  this  department  of  ministerial  culture  there  are  two 
thino-s  so  vital  to  success  as  to  demand  a  distinct  mention. 
The  first  is  alliance  with  Christ  as  the  effective  power  of  the 
ministry  ;  the  second  is  singleness  of  purpose  with  him  as  its 
object. 

Self-reliance  is  cultivated  as  a  great  source  of  power.  In 
actual  education  of  men  for  their  work  in  this  world,  a  merely 
earthly  policy,  in  its  wisdom,  insists  upon  this  as  the  highest 
habit  of  manly  energy.  This  springs  necessarily  from  the 
limited  nature  of  its  aims  and  its  resources.  Man  is  the 
highest  source  of  power,  and  the  purposes  he  seeks  to  accom- 
plish are  only  those  which  fall  within  the  sphere  of  those  nat- 
ural influences  he  imagines  himself  able  to  command.     Hence 


THEOLOGICAL     TKAINING.  57 

the  highest  philosophy  of  the  workl  is  the  cultivation  of  self 
in  its  form  of  personal  intelligence,  tact  and  energy.  In  the 
consdous  possession  of  these  men  go  forth  confidently  to  their 
work.  But  in  the  case  of  the  Christian  minister  this  whole 
process,  which  may  be  called  the  natural  process,  is  reversed 
— his  strength  springs  from  his  conscious  weakness  ;  self- 
distrust  is  the  condition  precedent  to  a  trust  in  Jesus  Christ ; 
the  powerlessness  of  all  instruments  to  effect  the  work  before 
him  forces  him  out  of  himself.  The  highest  intelligence  ; 
eloquence  the  most  moving  ;  tact  and  energy  the  most  con- 
summate, are  here  no  more  effective  in  themselves  to  renovate 
a  soul,  than  the  chains  and  commands  of  Xerxes  to  calm  the 
turbulence  of  the  J^gean.  Another  power  must  be  enlisted  ; 
the  victory  belongs  to  a  conqueror  supreme  above  all  natural 
forces.  Not  a  few  men  of  earthly  natures  have  accomplished 
mighty  deeds  under  the  impression  that  they  were  the  chosen 
of  God  for  a  great  purjjose.  Napoleon's  "Fate"  was  his  con- 
viction that  Grod  wrought  through  him.  But  unlike  these 
men,  the  minister  must  come  into  living  sympathy  with  him 
who  works  in  him  and  by  him.  Associated  with  the  conviction 
that  he  is  merely  the  instrument,  there  must  be  a  living  faith, 
which  daily  puts  his  hand  into  the  hand  of  Jesus ;  which 
communes  most  intimately  and  sweetly  with  him  as  his  all- 
sufficient  Redeemer  and  Sovereign.  The  whole  habit  and 
method  and  power  of  prayer  grows  into  being,  rises  to  be  a 
life,  in  consequence  of  this  habitual  distrusting  of  self,  and  this 
constant  alliance  of  the  soul  to  the  Saviour.  It  is  planted  in 
the  closet,  watered  in  the  study,  ripened  in  the  pulpit.  Para- 
doxical as  it  may  seem,  this  reliance  on  Jesus  becomes  on  the 
one  hand  the  best  form  of  self-reliance  and  on  the  other  the 
spring  of  vast  energy  for  action.  For  as  self  is  purified,  all 
its  powers  develop  themselves  under  this  divine  influence  in 
harmony  along  the  line  of  his  labor.  The  soul  swells  with 
conscious  poAver ;  with  a  life  that  is  productive  of  life.  It 
learns  to  stand  independent  of  men  ;  it  feels  itself  in  alliance 
with  the  arm  that  holds  up  creation  ;  and  feeling  thus  it  puts 
forth  energies  that  before  were  powerless,  in  the  perfect  assur- 


58 


EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES, 


ance  that  now  a  divine  influence  will  flash  along  them  ;  that 
what  once  was  weakness  will  now  become  strength  ;  that 
even  the  words  which  a  material  philosophy  rejects  and  de- 
spises, will  go  forth  freighted  with  and  directed  by  the  wis- 
dom of  God  right  into  tlie  secret  places  of  the  soul.  Herein 
lies  the  true  source  of  ministerial  power  ;  herein  lies  the  se- 
cret impulses  that  move  him  to  constant  labor  ;  this  convic- 
tion that  Christ  is  with  him,  with  him  in  loving  fellowshijD, 
with  him  in  the  exercise  of  all  his  j^roper  work  as  a  minister, 
holds  him  up  when  success  delays  to  come,  gives  him  patience 
in  seeming  defeat,  courage  to  encounter  all  forms  of  oppo- 
sition, joy  even  when  the  world  looks  down  upon  him  as 
despised  and  neglected.  If  he  is  defeated,  then  Christ  is 
defeated  ;  if  he  is  despised,  Christ  is  despised  ;  and  he  well 
knows  that  sooner  or  later  the  victory  will  be  won  by  the  arm 
that  is  mighty  to  save.  Constantine  rushed  to  victory  with 
the  cross  blazoned  on  his  banner ;  the  minister  of  Jesus  rears 
the  cross  in  his  heart ;  nails  to  it  his  pride  and  selfishness  ; 
is  daily  crucified  with  his  suffering  Lord,  and  from  the  tomb 
where  the  earthly  nature  lies  buried,  daily  ascends  to  the 
right  hand  of  Majesty  on  high. 

Allied  to  this  and  springing  out  of  it,  is  the  singleness  of 
purpose  with  which  the  work  of  the  ministry  shall  be  prose- 
cuted. This  work  is  unique  in  its  nature,  in  its  object,  and 
methods.  It  stands  alone  amidst  the  pursuits  of  men.  Pecu- 
liar in  its  character,  vast  in  its  objects,  opening  before  the  in- 
tellect and  the  heart  a  sphere  of  labor  broader  than  any  other, 
it  is  utterly  impossible  to  meet  its  demands  without  an  en- 
thusiastic devotion  to  it  as  the  work  of  life.  The  prepara- 
tion that  it  requires  tasks  the  highest  powers  of  the  mind. 
No  man  knows  too  much  to  be  a  minister  ;  no  man  has  a 
genius  so  rich  and  productive,  an  intellect  so  clear  and  com- 
prehensive, as  to  need  a  finer  field  for  their  development 
than  that  which  the  humblest  position  of  a  pastor  affords. 
The  great  enemy  that  meets  us  everywhere  is  our  felt  incom- 
petency ;  the  great  burden  that  presses  upon  us  is  this,  that 
with  all  our  study  and  devotion,  the  work  outgrows  our  pow- 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  59 

ers.  And  for  any  man  to  imagine  that  lie  can  be  all  he  ought 
to  be  and  do  all  he  ought  to  do,  in  the  appropriate  work  of 
the  ministry,  and  yet  become  eminent,  or  be  largely  engaged 
in  things  foreign  to  this  work,  is  an  idea  ruinous  to  his  prac- 
tical efficiency.  On  one  side  or  the  other  there  must  be 
neglect  and  failure.  No  man  here  can  serve  two  masters. 
The  attempt  to  do  it  issues  in  the  secularization  of  the  min- 
istry, i.  e.,  robs  it  of  its  distinctive  power  and  glory.  In  point 
of  fact  little  is  ever  accomplished  in  any  direction  without  the 
concentration  of  our  powers  upon  the  object  before  us.  No 
matter  what  may  be  the  actual  capacity,  unless  that  capacity 
is  developed  along  the  line  of  the  work  designed  to  be  effected, 
it  is  rarely  ever  the  case  that  a  person  succeeds  in  it.  But 
when  the  whole  intellect  is  put  into  it ;  when  all  the  avail- 
able energy  is  applied  in  the  right  direction,  then  even  weak- 
ness becomes  strength,  and  the  unity  and  earnestness  of  the 
purpose  enlisting  the  whole  man,  rarely  ever  fails  to  secure 
its  accomplishment.  But  the  ministry  is  just  of  that  nature, 
as,  above  all  other  pursuits,  to  call  for  this  entire  consecration 
of  the  soul,  and  where  this  is  really  the  case,  when  it  becomes 
the  all-absorbing  possession  of  the  life,  then  indeed  Avill  its 
results  always  justify  the  effort  put  forth. 

Now  this  unity  of  purpose  and  this  true  enthusiasm  must 
spring  in  part  from  a  just  conception  of  the  dignity,  the  im- 
portance and  eternal  grandeur  of  the  work  to  be  done.  We 
must  educate  ourselves  to  an  habitual  elevation  of  view,  a 
wide  comprehension  of  the  unspeakable  issues  that  depend  on 
our  ministry  ;  we  must  learn  how,  from  the-  scattering  of  seed 
in  the  human  heart,  there  will  grow  uj)  a  life  glorious  in  its 
beauty,  transcendent  in  its  excellence,  God-like  in  its  nature. 
Amidst  the  discouragements  which  meet  us,  we  are  to  cherish 
these  visions  of  the  future  glory  of  a  soul  redeemed  ;  and 
having  Christ  as  our  co-laborer,  go  forth  into  the  desert  to 
make  it  bud  as  the  rose.  And  if  you  need  an  illustration  of 
this  part  of  our  subject  to  animate  you,  you  have  but  to  com- 
pare the  early  and  the  later  periods  of  the  ministry  of  that 
remarkable  man,  whose  renown  and  glory  are  not  limited  to 


60  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

Scotland,  Lut  belong  to  the  whole  church  of  God.  When  the 
young  Chalmers,  in  the  pride  of  his  self-sufficiency,  attempted 
to  combine  another  work  with  that  of  his  ministry  in  Kil- 
many,  barrenness  and  darkness  followed  the  exhibitions  of  his 
matchless  intellect.  But  when,  humbled  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  he  had  taken  Jesus  to  his  heart,  when  his  views  of  the 
worth  of  the  soul  and  the  importance  of  the  ministry  had 
been  purified  and  enlarged  by  a  personal  application  to  the 
Redeemer,  then,  shaking  off  his  sluggishness,  separating  him- 
self from  all  but  his  own  appropriate  work,  he  came  forth  like 
Samson  with  his  locks  grown  ;  he  poured  the  light  and  lieat 
of  his  burning  intellect  direct  upon  the  hearts  of  men  ;  he 
accomplished  those  mighty  works  for  the  Church  and  his 
generation  that  have  remolded  the  form  of  Scottish  piety, 
and  reared  her  church  in  all  the  liberty  and  light  of  the  sons 
of  God. 

In  the  more  direct  culture  of  the  intellect,  the  attainment 
of  objective  knowledge,  we  have  three  great  divisions,  the  exe- 
getical,  the  doctrinal,  the  historical.  The  first  supplies  the 
subject-matter  in  its  elements  ;  the  second  combines  them 
and  gives  unity ;  the  third  illustrates  and  confirms,  by  reveal- 
ing truth  in  life. 

Exegesis  furnishes  the  material  out  of  which  the  minister 
is  to  construct.  It  is  the  base  line  from  which  all  his  depart- 
ures are  to  be  made,  and  to  which  they  are  to  return.  This 
is  the  department  on  which  he  is  to  bestow  a  greater  amount 
of  time  and  labor  than  oji  any  other.  No  day  should  pass 
without  some  advance  in  the  direct  study  of  the  Bible  itself 
The  field  is  so  immense,  so  varied,  that  with  all  his  diligence, 
after  years  of  intense  study,  he  will  find  large  portions  of  it 
not  yet  overtaken.  In  pursuing  it  there  is  a  common  defect 
in  method,  which  has  much  to  do  with  the  failure  of  multi- 
tudes to  appreciate  its  value.  A  man  may  study  the  Bible 
in  a  mere  grammatical  and  servile  spirit.  His  train  of  thought 
may  be  given  almost  wholly  to  the  forms  of  words.  He  may 
become  skillful  in  tracing  out  roots  and  paradigms,  and  yet 
after  all  miss  the  very  life  of  the  passage  he  seeks  to  under- 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING,  61 

stand.  Important  as  grammar  is  in  its  place,  it  is  but  a  serv- 
ant ;  it  holds  a  subordinate  position  ;  it  is  nothing  better  than 
the  scaffolding  around  the  building.  By  it  alone  no  man  ever 
becomes  a  truly  accomplished  interpreter  of  the  divine  word. 
There  is  a  vastly  higher  attainment  in  this  department  I 
would  urge  you  to  make.  It  is  the  cultivation  of  that  dis- 
cernment which  looks  readily  into  the  very  spirit  of  the  lan- 
guage ;  which  lays  hold  of  the  course  of  thought,  of  which 
words  are  only  the  formal  indices.  The  "difference  between  a 
mere  word  analyzer,  and  him  who,  penetrating  the  shell, 
reaches  the  profounder  thought,  is  immense.  The  one  thinks 
his  work  done  when  he  has  given  you  the  word  in  its  varia- 
tions of  form  :  the  other  deems  his  work  then  but  just  begun. 
He  takes  language  in  its  connections,  the  thought  as  reveal- 
ing itself  along  the  line  of  words  ;  and  catching  the  spirit  of 
the  sacred  writer,  entering  into  his  position,  learns  to  look 
out  of  his  eyes  and  enter  fully  into  his  conceptions.  The  dif- 
ference is  equally  great  in  the  freshness  and  fullness  of  the 
products  of  these  minds.  The  first  becomes  dry,  effete,  very 
good  on  easy  passages,  but  blind  and  stupid  where  it  is  the 
thought  in  its  connections  that  constitutes  the  whole  difficulty 
of  interpretation.  The  other,  sinking  the  forms,  and  esjjeci- 
ally  passing  lightly  over  those  which  are  the  mere  accidents 
and  incidents  of  the  passage,  takes  the  rich  and  glowing  con- 
ceptions of  the  writer  into  his  intellect,  feels  liis  own  mind 
swell  and  glow  with  the  high  argument,  the  beautiful  imagi- 
nation, the  gi'and  description.  The  first  unfits  a  man  to 
preach ;  it  disgusts  by  the  dryness  of  the  insignificant  details  ; 
it  limits  its  thought  to  particles  and  shades  of  forms  so  much 
as  to  be  almost  incapable  of  appreciating  the  adaptation  of 
the  truth  itself  to  man,  with  liis  throbbing  heart  and  earnest, 
practical  life.  The  second  fills  the  soul  itself  with  the  kernel 
of  truth  rather  than  with  the  husks,  and  thus  inspires  the 
man  to  come  forth  and  pour  the  fullness  of  his  fresh  and  vivid 
and  homelike,  heart-affecting  conceptions  upon  the  waiting 
hearts  of  others.  Of  the  first,  more  than  one  of  the  German 
commentators,  especially  of  the  infidel  school,  are  striking 


62  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

examples  ;  of  the  second,  I  know  of  no  one  who  constitutes  a 
finer  illustration  than  Calvin.  With  far  less  of  mere  jAilo- 
logical  learning  than  many  of  his  successors,  he  yet  displays  a 
power  of  detecting  the  course  of  thought,  of  penetrating  the 
spirit  of  the  sacred  writers,  of  bringing  forth  their  ideas  in  all 
their  vitality  and  freshness,  surpassing  all  others. 

And  here  too  you  trace  out  the  reason  why  so  few  minis- 
ters succeed  in  exegetical  preaching.  The  tendency  of  this 
method  is  to  exalt  the  minute  and  the  accidental  to  a  level 
with  that  which  is  essential.  All  parts  of  a  sentence  are 
made  to  run  on  a  plane — to  go  on  all  fours.  Now  when  any 
man  attempts  this  style  of  commentary,  which  befits  a  college 
drill,  in  the  pulpit,  he  is  sure  to  fail.  Robert  Hall,  with  all 
his  powers  of  intellect,  once  tried  it  in  vain.  Most  young 
ministers  start  with  the  idea  of  inducting  their  people  into 
the  mysteries  of  philology,  and  fail  of  course.  This  is  not 
jDreaching  any  more  than  sawing  wood  is  making  a  fire.  The 
people  have  sense  enough  to  know  that  analyzing  language 
is  not  using  language  to  express  the  thoughts  which  their 
spiritual  life  needs.  And  so  the  minister  gives  up  the  whole 
business  of  exegetical  preaching  as  not  within  the  range  of 
his  powers.  Dr.  John  M.  Mason  could  do  it,  but  he  is  not 
Dr.  Mason.  Now,  if  instead  of  this  he  should  take  Cal- 
vin's method  ;  if  he  should  study  the  language  until  the 
thouo;ht  in  all  its  connections  stood  before  him  as  a  vivid  re- 
ality  ;  if  then  he  should  give  a  substantial  expression  to  it  in 
all  the  glow  and  fervor  of  his  own  intellect  and  in  language 
his  own,  think  you  his  hearers  will  sleep,  or  gaze  in  stupid 
wonder  ?  think  you  his  whole  method  of  sermonizing  will  not 
acquire  a  richness,  a  variety,  an  adaptation  to  all  the  parts  of 
life  and  experience,  which  nothing  else  can  give  ? 

If  now,  while  thus  prosecuting  this  general  course  of  prep- 
aration for  his  work,  he  should  select  a  few  of  the  more 
difficult  passages  of  the  Bible,  and  giving  to  them  a  special 
attention,  bring  to  bear  upon  them  all  his  intellectual  acu- 
men, study  them  for  weeks,  nay  for  months  if  necessary  : 
then  when  the  subject-matter  stands  forth  clearly  in  his  OAvn 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  63 

mind,  let  him  preach  those  thoughts,  not  in  the  form  of  a 
commentary,  but  of  a  sermon  ;  let  him  preach  not  more  than 
half  a  dozen  such  discourses  in  a  year,  and  you  may  rest  as- 
sured, tha't  from  this  vigorous  grapple  with  difficulties,  and 
this  protracted  study  of  individual  passages,  and  this  clear 
unfolding  of  them,  his  powers  as  a  preacher  will  receive  a 
greater  enlargement,  and  his  people  a  more  thorough  enlighten- 
ment than  from  all  the  more  common  and  hasty  efforts  of  the 
entire  year. 

Common  and  hasty  efforts — common,  because  hasty — every 
minister  in  this  land  who  preaches  twice  on  the  Sabbath  and 
lectures  once  or  twice  a  week,  must  make.  The  larger  portion 
of  the  topics  on  which  he  must  dwell  do  not  demand  a  vast 
amount  of  study  profitably  to  unfold  them.  But  if  the  young 
minister  limits  himself  to  these,  he  will  inevitably  become 
shallow  and  superficial.  .  The  general  tone  of  his  preaching 
after  years  in  the  ministry  will  be  lower  in  point  of  power 
than  his  first  efforts.  It  is  only  by  this  occasional  grapple 
with  the  more  profound  truths  of  Scripture,  by  this  protracted 
course  of  study  and  elaboration  of  preparation,  that  liis  whole 
style  and  manner  of  sermonizing  will  attain  a  higher  charac- 
ter, his  intellect  a  richer  furniture,  and  his  ministry  attributes 
of  strength  and  life. 

Exegesis  thus  furnishes  us  with  the  rich  materials  of 
thought.  To  this,  hoAvever,  its  province  is  limited.  These 
truths  are  given  to  us  in  parts,  in  the  concrete  relations  of 
life.  It  is  for  us  now  to  enter  upon  another  process — a  pro- 
cess of  combination,  of  construction.  The  precious  stones  are 
here  ;  we  have  quarried  them  and  seen  their  individual  beauty. 
But  what  place  do  they  occupy  in  the  great  temple  ?  What 
are  their  relations  to  each  other  ?  What  is  the  whole  of 
which  these  are  but  parts  ?  Here  then  we  enter  upon  another 
department  of  ministerial  culture,  that  of  dogmatic  theology. 
Tlie  human  mind  instinctively  seeks  for  law,  order,  system  in 
all  things.  Wisdom  lies  not  in  the  parts,  but  in  the  combi- 
nation as  a  whole.  In  the  mind  of  G-od  all  truth  is  related, 
jointed  together,  in  one  magnificent  plan,  through  which  his 


64  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

creative  intellect  flames  forth  in  infinite  glory.  And  just  as 
far  as  we  aj^jiroximate  to  him  in  understanding,  we  rise  to  an 
apprehension  of  this  vast  system  which  he  has  de\^sed  to  show 
forth  his  wisdom.  You  may  see  a  single  tree,  majestic,  beau- 
tiful, and  admire  it.  You  set  that  tree  in  a  landscape  where 
vale  and  hill  and  lake  and  forest  intermingle,  and  how  the 
sense  of  the  beautiful  grows  upon  you.  You  add  the  water- 
fall, the  majestic  mountain,  and  you  feel  the  impress  of  the 
sublime  overshadowing  the  beautiful.  So  in  all  things 
science  grows  out  of  combination.  You  put  together  the 
isolated  particulars  ;  you  harmonize  the  seeming  chaos  ;  you 
discern  a  law  that  reduces  the  mass  of  various  particulars 
into  relations  fit  and  beautiful.  Thus  as  you  ascend  from 
the  particular  to  the  universal,  you  see  systems  within  sys- 
tems ;  science  groAvs  into  being ;  you  sweep  easily  a  wider 
horizon  ;  you  compass  uses  and  objects  unthought  of  before  ; 
you  caixy  on  your  investigations  into  the  earth  beneath  and 
the  heavens  above,  and  through  them  all  and  over  them,  em- 
bracing and  holding  them  in  its  mighty  arms,  you  see  a  tran- 
scendent system  of  law  and  order,  wonderful  in  w^isdom,  pro- 
found, vast,  infinite  in  its  operation.  And  just  as  it  is  in 
natural  science,  so  is  it  in  this  which  is  spiritual.  Man's  na- 
ture hath  its  laws  ;  God  in  his  relations  to  sphitual  beings 
has  established  a  system,  in  which  this  human  nature  has  its 
appropriate  position  and  sphere.  Now  it  is  the  business  of 
the  theologian  to  trace  out  that  position  and  these  relations. 
And  in  doing  this  he  takes  the  facts  of  revelation  as  the  high- 
est elements  of  truth  here  attainable,  and  combines  them  to- 
gether according  to  his  ability.  Just  so  far  as  he  is  success- 
ful in  this,  he  rises  to  an  understanding  of  the  harmony,  the 
wisdom  of  the  w^hole  plan  of  God's  working  with  his  creatures  ; 
so  far  his  own  intellect  becomes  illuminated  with  broader  and 
more  comprehensive  visions  of  the  divine  character  and  will ; 
so  far  he  gains  strength,  force,  breadth,  in  the  development 
of  his  reason.  Kedemption,  what  is  it  ?  Man's  delivery  from 
sin  and  its  penalty.  What  necessitates  it  ?  The  divine  nature 
and  the  human  in  conflict ;  justice  in  the  divine,  unholiness 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  65 

in  the  human.  Whence  comes  it  .^  By  whom  ?  In  what 
manner  ?  How  doth  it  ojierate  ?  Questions  such  as  these, 
questions  that  burst  forth  spontaneously  from  the  heart  and 
intellect  of  man,  carry  you  at  once  into  the  investigations  of 
the  whole  system  of  redemption  ;  oblige  you  to  combine,  ar- 
range, classify,  search  out  the  law  that  gives  harmony  to  this 
system,  the  relations  of  its  parts  one  to  another,  the  fitness  of 
its  instruments,  the  wisdom  of  its  entire  operation.  The  man 
who  does  not  thus  learn  to  combine  and  arrange  the  elements 
of  truth  as  given  in  the  Bible,  is  deficient,  sadly  deficient,  in 
the  highest  ministerial  powers. 

There  are  two  jjoints  here  on  which  I  wish  to  remark ;  the 
first  has  reference  to  the  method  of  doctrinal  investigation  ; 
the  second,  to  the  method  of  preaching  the  doctrines.  If  a 
man  starts  on  these  investigations  with  the  idea  that  his 
finite  reason  is  the  source  of  knowledge,  or  even  the  ultimate 
judge  of  what  is  best  in  the  divine  system,  then,  I  take  it,  he 
had  better  let  reasoning  alone.  He  is  on  the  wrong  tack. 
He  can  not  help  driving  on  to  a  reef  or  quicksand  instead  of 
sailing  into  the  harbor  and  planting  his  feet  on  the  continent 
of  truth. 

The  first  element  of  a  wise  minister's  character,  is  child- 
like docility.  He  must  accept  Christ  as  his  infallible  teacher ; 
the  Bible  as  true  in  all  its  facts,  whether  he  can  comprehend 
them  all  in  a  consistent  system  or  not.  When  starting  from 
any  other  point,  setting  up  a  philosophy  which  his  reason  has 
somehow  concocted,  he  attempts  to  make  the  divine  revela- 
tion square  with  his  hypothetical  dogmatics,  then  I  object. 
The  Bible  is  full,  is  complete  in  itself.  It  is  the  highest  phi- 
losophy ;  it  is  the  highest  reason  ;  it  is  the  revelation  of  the 
divine  mind  and  as  such  I  have  nothing  to  do,  but  to  put  to- 
gether, classify  and  arrange  its  great  facts  according  to  their 
perceived  relations.  If  in  doing  this  I  can  not  always  see 
through  all  the  ground  or  reason  of  the  facts  themselves,  it  is 
not  for  me  to  deny  the  facts.  It  is  mine  humbly  to  accept 
them,  confident  that  in  the  light  of  that  sublime  intellect  into 
which  I  shall  shortly  enter,  the  reason  of  it  will  be  fully  un- 

5 


66  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

folded.  I  will  not  deny  that  Christ's  sacrifice  on  the  cross 
constituted  a  just  basis  on  which  God  could  sincerely  offer 
salvation  to  all  men,  because  I  can  not  make  that  square 
with  a  philosoj)hy  of  the  atonement.  This  very  fact,  stated 
as  clearly  and  as  broadly  as  language  can  state,  is  found  in 
the  Bible  ;  and,  being  there,  it  must  constitute  one  of  the 
parts  of  divine  philosophy  of  the  atonement.  So,  when  a 
man  forms  a  peculiar  philosophy  of  the  nature  of  Christ  and 
his  relation  to  the  Father,  and  his  sufferings,  which  virtually 
destroys  the  distinction  of  the  Trinity — makes  the  atonement 
just  like  the  scenic  arrangements  of  a  theater,  through  which 
you  can  thrust  your  foot  and  destroy  the  illusion — then  it  . 
seems  to  me  he  has  started  wrong.  The  finite  reason  usurps 
the  functions  of  the  infinite  ;  the  conditioned  thrusts  itself 
into  the  sphere  of  the  unconditioned.  But  when,  taking  the 
Bible  as  in  itself  the  revelation  of  the  higher  facts  of  the 
divine  system,  philosophy  simply  attempts  to  arrange  these 
facts  in  their  appropriate  relations,  so  that  the  whole  system 
in  its  connections  may  stand  forth  visible  to  every  eye,  then 
and  only  then  do  we  fulfill  the  part  of  humble  students — then 
and  only  then  are  we  educating  ourselves  to  fulfill  the  minis- 
try of  Jesus. 

Are  we  not  then  to  prosecute  the  study  of  philosojihy — 
the  study  of  the  soul  and  its  powers,  and  the  abstract  nature 
of  the  divine  ?  Certainly.  The  Bible  gives  us  only  general 
facts,  not  an  arranged  psychological  system.  Every  man  who 
thinks  much,  who  studies  his  own  nature  and  that  of  God, 
will  have  views  and  opinions  which  will  constitute  his  phi- 
losophy. But  then  this  philosophy  should  be  rather  the  out- 
growth of  the  Bible — bringing  the  presupposed  facts  of  our 
nature  into  just  arrangement  and  connection  with  those  rec- 
ognized in  this  divine  book.  Are  there  not  then  facts,  data, 
outside  the  Bible  on  which  we  may  reason  independently  ? 
To  a  limited  extent  this  is  true.  But  the  grand  difficulty 
with  the  mere  philosopher  has  ever  been,  either  that  he  as- 
sumed that  which  was  not  fact,  or  that  his  reasoning  was 
broader  than  his  facts.  The  whole  history  of  pliilosophy  shows 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  67 

this.  Advancing  and  retreating  ;  shifting  its  ground  with 
every  new  speculator ;  agreed  only  on  one  thing,  that  all  pre- 
vious philosophers  were  wrong  but  the  last.  Instead,  therefore, 
of  testing  Scripture  by  philosophy,  we  do  just  the  contrary, 
we  test  philosophy  by  Scripture.  If  a  man  of  science  tells 
me  that  the  negro's  shin  bone  and  woolly  hair  constitute  him 
a  really  different  species  of  the  genus  homo,  and  therefore 
there  must  have  been  more  than  one  pair  originally  created  ; 
why,  I  accept  his  fact  and  deny  his  reasoning,  just  because  his 
conclusion  is  not  in  harmony  with  Scripture.  If  another 
advances  a  philosophy  of  human  nature  based  on  only  two 
principles,  self-love  and  the  freedom  of  the  will,  I  accept  the 
fiicts,  but  deny  that  he  has  embraced  all  those  which  are 
properly  separate  and  fundamental  ;  for  the  original  law  of 
God  requires  at  least  two  others  in  addition  to  these — thou 
skalt  love  the  Lord  God  ;  thy  neighbor  as  well  as  thyself.  If 
Volney  ridicules  Ezekiel  for  describing  the  winged  monsters 
in  Nineveh,  and  the  soldiers  of  Tyre  as  hanging  their  shields 
on  the  wall,  I  deny  his  assumption  of  fact  altogether,  and 
wait  until  a  Layard  shall  disentomb  from  Nineveh  those  very 
winged  monsters  and  the  pictures  of  those  Tynan  soldiers 
hanging  their  shields  on  the  wall.  Thus  I  would  make  the 
Scriptures  always  the  point  of  departure  and  return,  the  test 
of  philosophy  At  the  same  time  it  is  of  importance,  in  the 
study  of  systematic  theology,  to  learn  how  to  harmonize  all 
the  great  facts  of  science  with  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  as 
far  as  this  lies  within  the  compass  of  our  powers. 

In  reference. to  the  preaching  of  the  doctrines,  I  may  be 
permitted  to  remark,  that  to  preach  the  gospel  is  to  preach 
the  system  of  redemption.  It  is  impossible  to  educate  a  peo- 
ple so  as  to  give  them  a  strong,  intelligent,  substantial  reli- 
gious character,  without  frequent  discussions  of  doctrinal 
points  in  the  pulpit  and  lecture  room  and  Bible  class.  You 
can  no  more  give  solidity  and  intelligence  to  Christian  char- 
acter, without  grappling  the  fundamental  questions  which 
constitute  systematic  theology,  than  you  can  make  a  child 
gi-ow  strong  on  sweetmeats  and  cake.     The  pastors  wlio  were 


68  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES, 

educated  forty  years  ago,  have  sometimes  been  blamed  for  tlio 
prominence  they  gave  to  doctrinal  discussion  in  the  pulpit. 
T  his  was  the  characteristic  of  their  age.  Philological  studies 
in  this  country  had  made  little  progress.  A  little  Latin  and 
Greek,  and  scarcely  any  Hebrew,  was  the  sum  total  of  their 
attainments  in  philology.  They  studied  with  men  famed 
rather  as  thinkers  than  scholars.  The  force  of  their  intellects 
was  developed  almost  exclusively  along  the  line  of  dogmatic 
theology.  The  teachers  fomied  schools  of  philosophy,  follow- 
ing some  renowned  leader.  The  young  ministers  came  forth 
imbued  with  the  philosophy  of  their  instructor  and  full  of 
ardor  in  the  work  of  proclaiming  the  system  of  theology  as 
modified  by  that  philosophy.  The  force,  the  genius,  which 
is  now  scattered  over  a  wide  field,  then  concentrated  itself  on 
doctrinal  investigation.  Eminence  here  was  super-eminence. 
And  he  was  a  grand  power  in  the  church,  seen  and  heard  afar, 
who  discussed  with  the  intelligence  of  a  master  the  mooted 
doctrines  of  the  day.  It  was  natural,  in  this  state  of  things, 
that  the  excess  should  be  in  this  direction.  But  in  our  day 
the  whole  current  is  in  the  contrary  direction.  Doctrinal 
preaching  must  stand  aside,  not  so  much  for  exegetical 
preaching,  as  for  easy  topics  of  all  kinds,  from  telegraphs 
and  railroads,  down  to  what,  with  the  keenest  satire,  is  called 
moral  reform.  I  confess  that  as  between  these  two  extremes, 
the  first  is  the  best.  There  was,  after  all,  a  manliness,  a 
strength  of  thought  in  it  which  gave  birth  to  and  molded 
manly,  strong  men.  If  they  made  too  much  of  the  skeleton, 
our  moderns  seem  intent  on  trying  to  make  men  without 
any  bones  at  all — a  mere  mass  of  fat  and  muscle.  Which 
is  the  better  method,  to  teach  the  catechism  to  the  young, 
discuss  it  in  your  Bible  classes  as  they  advance,  and  demon- 
strate its  great  points  in  your  pulpits  on  the  Sabbath,  or 
teach  your  youth  a  few  stories,  a  few  general  precepts  of 
morality,  and  then  amuse  your  grown-up  children  with  ele- 
gant similes,  startling  gestures,  clap-trap  arguments,  laugh- 
ter-moving anecdotes,  and  eloquent  demonstrations  of  things 
they  all  know  as  well  as  you  do  ?  Certainly  it  will  be  an  im- 


THEOLOGICAL     TEAINING.  69 

provement  in  our  modern  sermonizing,  to  have  infused  into 
it  more  of  the  strength  of  doctrinal  discussion  characteristic 
of  our  flithers.  These  young  men,  going  forth  from  these 
halls  of  sacred  science,  will  combine  in  their  preaching  the 
fuller  and  sounder  interpretation  which  a  thorough  exeget- 
ical  training  has  qualilied  them  to  make,  with  that  definite 
and  clear  discussion  of  fundamental  doctrines  which  enters  so 
largely  into  the  training  of  a  manly  Christian. 

In  reference  to  the  historical  department  of  Christian 
science,  I  have  not  time  to  say  what  its  importance  demands. 
Sacred  history  is  the  truth  of  God  incarnate  in  the  Church. 
It  is  this  supernatural  truth  attended  by  supernatural  influ- 
ence making  its  way  among  men.  It  is  to  be  likened  not  so 
much  to  a  river,  which  remains  much  the  same,  as  to  seed 
that  is  planted  in  different  soils  and  under  varying  climates, 
yet  is  nourished  by  the  same  quality  of  rain  and  sunshine. 
This  plant,  as  it  grows,  is  necessarily  affected  in  its  outward 
development  and  character  by  the  influences  about  it.  The 
same  tree  assumes  different  phases  in  different  latitudes,  and 
in  the  same  latitude  in  different  exposures.  Now  the  Church, 
which  is  everywhere  the  product  of  the  same  substantial  truth 
and  divine  Spirit  conjointly  operative,  grows  into  life  and 
spreads  itself  among  peoples  of  different  customs,  differing 
governments,  and  diverse  intellectual  culture  and  character. 
These  affect  its  external  form  ;  and  these  exert  upon  it  a 
certain  modifying  influence.  Or  rather  it  grows  up,  pushing 
itself  here  and  there  through  these,  not  always  changing  or 
destroying,  but  modifying  and  being  itself  modified.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  tracing  out  of  these  changes  and  the  influence  of 
these  external  circumstances,  history  reveals  the  causes  and 
the  character  of  all  those  errors  which,  springing  up  some- 
times in  the  bosom  of  the  Church  itself,  sometimes  imported 
into  it  from  without,  have  exerted  so  vital  and  so  disastrous 
an  influence  upon  its  progress.  Now  what  experience  is  to 
the  young  Christian,  Church  history  is  to  the  minister  of 
Christ.  It  puts  him  in  a  position  to  take  in  at  a  glance 
the  influences  that  have  promoted  or  have  retarded  the  ad- 


70  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

vance  of  true  faith.  It  forewarns  and  forearms  him  against 
specious  errors,  whose  latent  i^oison  may  not  be  at  first  visi- 
ble, against  measures  which  do  not  immediately  reveal  their 
tendency  to  displace  the  Church  from  her  position  on  the 
rock  of  simple  truth.  He  gathers  around  him  an  experience 
it  would  be  impossible  for  him  in  the  longest  life  to  attain. 
Moreover,  it  opens  to  him  the  richest  arsenal  for  the  defense 
of  the  truth  ;  shows  him  how  the  truth  has  lived  and  wrought 
and  combated  with  error,  and  finally  triumphed  over  it.  Nor 
is  this  all ;  it  brings  him  into  association  with  piety  in  all 
ages,  under  all  forms  of  church  polity,  under  all  the  modi- 
fications of  intellectual  culture.  It  liljeralizes  the  mind, 
takes  it  out  of  and  above  the  narrow  range  of  his  parish,  his 
church,  his  country  and  his  age.  It  sets  him  down  in  familiar 
converse  with  the  saints  of  all  ages,  and  roots  out  of  him  that 
stupid  bigotry  which  narrows  the  life  of  true  Christianity  to 
one's  own  sect.  In  doing  tliis,  it  furnishes  him  with  a  thou- 
sand confirmations  of  the  divineness  of  the  gosj)el  and  the 
devilish  nature  of  error  ;  it  fills  his  mind  with  legitimate  and 
jjowerful  illustrations  of  the  truth  which  will  be  of  incalculable 
value  to  him  in  the  preaching  of  the  gos])el ;  and  enables  him 
to  be  wise  in  government,  sound  in  doctrine,  judicious  in  coun- 
sel. No  young  minister  should  neglect  to  7naster  this  depart- 
ment of  sacred  knowledge.  It  will  be  worth  to  him  more 
than  all  his  merely  secular  reading  put  together.  For  here 
he  will  see  the  divine  and  human,  the  sacred  and  secular  in- 
termingling ;  here  he  will  learn  to  trace  out  the  method  in 
which  the  divine  government  is  working  out  its  great  ends — 
the  kind  of  exj)eriments  through  which  the  Church  is  being 
conducted  and  the  final  jiurposes  are  to  reach  their  full  and 
triumphant  conclusion.  The  whole  j^hilosophy  of  divine 
providence,  at  first  seemingly  objectless  and  chaotic,  will 
gradually  assume  form  and  order.  He  will  observe  its  laws  ; 
he  will  rise  to  its  objects  ;  he  will  catch  its  spirit.  As  from 
some  lofty  mountain,  to  which  with  infinite  toil  he  has  as- 
cended, he  will  have  before  him  the  movements  of  the  hosts 
of  Israel  and  the  hosts  of  the  world  ;  and  throut^jh  the  dust 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  71 

and  smoke  of  conflict,  lie  will  discern  the  plan  of  tlie  great 
Captain,  who  presides  over  all  in  infinite,  wisdom. 

I  am  aware  that  this  department  of  science  is  lamentably 
deficient,  not  in  materials,  but  in  works  embodying  these 
materials  in  a  form  attractive,  and  in  a  spirit  accordant  with 
the  gospel  itself  Much  of  it  has  been  written  by  men  either 
wholly  destitute  of  the  evangelical  spirit,  and  hence  entirely 
strangers  to  the  true  philosophy  of  history,  or  by  men  whose 
method  and  style  render  their  productions  unattractive.  It 
is  a  shame,  a  dishonor  to  the  Church,  that  such  glorious  fields 
of  thought  should  be  so  cultivated  ;  while  profane  history 
has  been  invested  by  a  Hume,  a  Niebuhr,  a  Gibbon,  a  Ma- 
caulay,  a  Prescott,  an  Irving,  a  Bancroft,  with  the  charms  of 
beauty,  and  sprightliness,  and  eloquence,  sacred  history  hardly 
numbers  one  who  has  enshrined  its  immortal  teachings  in  set- 
ting worthy  of  its  nature  and  influence.  Oh  !  that  some  mind 
may  rise,  uniting  the  German  research,  the  English  common 
sense,  wdtli  American  brilliancy  and  force,  to  give  to  the 
Church  of  God  a  history  that  shall  charm  while  it  shall  in- 
struct ;  that,  penned  and  characterized  by  the  philosophic 
spirit,  shall  yet  set  forth  the  great  heroes  of  her  past,  and 
their  heroic  works,  in  words  that  will  attract  the  attention, 
and  enlist  the  sympathies  of  all  who  love  truth  and  admire 
the  great  and  good. 

And  now,  without  following  out  this  general  train  of 
thought,  let  me  ask  your  attention  to  one  or  two  points  which 
fitly  follow  this  discussion.  There  are  two  practical  questions 
which,  before  a  minister  has  been  long  settled,  he  finds  press- 
ing upon  him  :  how  shall  he  give  to  his  people  instruction, 
variety  and  freshness  ?  It  is  a  case  too  common  to  be  re- 
markable that  a  minister,  after  the  first  excitements  of  the 
ministry  are  over,  settles  down  into  a  uniform  habit  of  preach- 
ing. And  this  habit  is  productive  of  monotony,  not  only  in 
manner,  but  in  matter  also.  He  chooses  topics  on  which  he 
can  preach  most  readily,  he  treats  them  all  in  the  same  style ; 
he  repeats  the  figures,  the  very  thoughts  which  are  already 
familiar  to  his  audience.     A  person  who  hears  him  but  once 


72  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

or  twice  will  pronounce  the  sermon  excellent ;  but  those  who 
sit  steadily  under  his  ministry  can  tell,  Avhen  he  begins,  when 
he  is  going  to  end.  He  obeys  the  Scripture  in  one  respect, 
but  woefully  disobeys  in  another.  He  brings  plenty  of  the 
old,  but  the  new  has  long  since  become  old. 

Now,  if  this  man  will  but  take  the  Scriptures,  just  as 
they  are  written,  and,  without  servilely  attempting  to  explain 
the  crossing  of  every  f,  and  the  dotting  of  every  *,  put  him- 
self to  the  work  of  bringing  out  in  their  fullness  the  succes- 
sive topics  of  the  sacred  writers  in  their  order  ;  if,  instead  of 
putting  every  discourse  on  the  same  block,  and  going  through 
with  all  the  parts  of  it  according  to  his  rhetorical  models,  he 
will  let  each  sermon  take  its  form  from  the  text  he  is  explain- 
ing ;  if  sometimes  he  will  catch  the  very  spirit  of  the  sacred 
writer  and  let  that  give  form  and  shape  to  his  preaching  ;  if 
he  will  consent  to  forget  himself,  and  suffer  the  word  of  life, 
in  its  affluence  of  thought,  and  grandeur  of  imagery,  and 
variety  of  illustration,  to  till  his  soul  and  stir  his  nature 
through  all  its  sources  of  power ;  if  he  will  bring  to  each  topic, 
as  it  presents  itself,  all  the  latent  principles  and  knowledge 
related  to  it,  which  now  like  useless  lumber  is  stored  away  in 
his  mind — then  you  may  rest  assured  this  man  can  hardly  fail 
of  enjoying  a  perennial  vivacity  and  variety  of  thought ;  then 
will  new  trains  of  ideas  spring  up  on  all  sides  ;  then  will  he 
begin  to  wield  a  two-edged  sword,  which,  flaming  in  every 
direction,  pierces  on  all  sides  the  hearts  of  men.  Of  such  a 
man  it  will  never  be  said  that  he  does  not  preach  up  to  the 
times.  That  cant  of  modern  freebooters  in  and  out  of  the 
pulpit  will  have  lost  even  the  appearance  of  truth.  For 
human  nature  and  life  were  the  same  in  the  apostolic  age  as 
in  this.  Men  had  the  same  subjective  nature,  and  they 
sought  the  same  objects  ;  their  vices,  their  temptations,  their 
objections,  their  ignorance,  their  afflictions  and  their  joys — 
the  methods  of  holiness  and  sin,  were  pretty  much  the  same. 
And  it  constitutes  one  of  the  most  wonderful  characteristics 
of  the  Bible,  that  not  only  does  it  establish  the  great  princi- 
ples of  human  reasoning,  but  that  it  has  practically  applied 


THEOLOGICAL     TKAINING.  73 

tliose  principles  to  almost  every  case  that  can  possibly  arise  in 
the  course  of  man's  life.  Let  any  man  thus  follow  the  sacred 
writers  along  the  line  of  their  writings,  and  he  will  find  him- 
self coming  in  contact  with  human  natui'e  in  all  its  variety 
of  experience  ;  he  will  learn  how  to  reach  all  the  intricacies 
of  Christian  experience  and  minister  to  all  the  wants  of  the 
imperfect  Church.  Along  all  the  path  in  which  God  con- 
ducts his  people  from  cliildhood  to  old  age,  around  and  over 
all  the  heights  and  depths  of  the  Christian's  life,  he  will  see 
the  light  of  heaven  falling,  and  thus  he  will  learn  to  preach 
to  man  as  man,  without  taking  one  step  outside  the  Bible 
to  hunt  up  topics. 

But,  in  addition  to  tliis  method  of  sermonizing,  let  me 
suggest  to  you  the  importance  of  following  up  a  course  of 
reading  such  as  will  bear  upon  all  these  various  topics.  The 
Bible  is  connected  on  all  sides  with  human  life.  It  ramifies 
into  secular  history.  Geography  brings  tribute  to  it ;  travels, 
and  works  descriptive  alike  of  the  ancient  and  modern  life  of 
man,  are  full  of  suggestions  that  will  aid  the  student  pastor  to 
illustrate  and  enforce  the  truths  of  the  sacred  word.  Especi- 
ally should  the  young  minister  give  attention  to  a3sthetic  cul- 
ture. He  who  neglects  this,  neglects  one  of  the  fullest  sources 
of  freshness  and  power.  Beauty  is  God's  own  creation  ;  he 
lives  and  rejoices  in  it ;  he  has  given  it  to  us  everywhere  in 
the  heavens  and  on  the  earth.  He  meant  it  not  to  take  the 
place  of  strength,  and  he  who  substitutes  the  one  for  the  other, 
is  like  the  man  who  would  create  a  world  of  color  and  form 
alone.  It  is  the  solid  granite  ribs  the  world  ;  it  is  the  rock 
and  the  iron  that  form  the  basis  of  all  productive  life.  But 
then  God  has  covered  the  granite  with  forests  and  flowers ; 
he  crystallizes  the  snow  ;  he  resolves  the  sunbeam  into  the 
harmonious  beauty  of  colors ;  he  rears  man  himself  in  beauty ; 
he  crowns  man  with  honor  as  the  very  consummate  flower  of 
all  his  earthly  creation.  Beauty  is  always  fresh,  joyous,  de- 
lightful. In  the  sermon  it  is  as  attractive  as  in  the  land- 
scape ;  and  when  it  comes  in  to  adorn  the  strength  of  that, 
to  gild  the  gieatness  and  ruggedness  of  argument,  then  it  is 


74  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

like  the  sparkle  of  the  coronet  on  the  anointed  king  of  Israel. 
All  men  feel  its  power  and  rejoice  in  its  presence.  The  min- 
ister of  Christ  who,  from  a  mistaken  notion  of  the  intrinsic 
dignity  of  the  gosj^el,  despises  those  forms  of  beauty  in  which 
that  gospel  finds  a  fitting  robe  in  which  to  appear  before  the 
people,  despises  what  David  and  Isaiah  rejoiced — what  Paul 
and  John  delighted  in  ;  what  Jesus,  the  incarnate  One,  deigned 
to  use  in  the  work  of  speaking  as  never  man  spake.  Shall 
men  of  the  world  assume  to  themselves  this  rich  heritage  ? 
Is  this  world  clad  in  somber,  quaker  colors  ?  Is  heaven 
adumbrated  to  us  in  images,  rude,  homely,  ugly  ?  And  wiU 
the  minister  of  Jesus,  who  should  study  all  modes  legiti- 
mate of  reaching  the  human  heart,  of  attracting  men  to  the 
Bible,  neglect  a  culture  which,  in  its  effect  upon  himself,  will 
give  new  impression  to  his  preaching  and  consecrate  to  God 
the  weapons  which  worldly  men  have  debased  to  ignoble  ends  ? 

Depend  upon  it,  that  no  man,  who  cultivates  all  the  best 
parts  of  his  nature,  can  fail  to  have  regard  to  those  sensibili- 
ties which  bring  him  into  sympathy  with  all  that  is  beautiful 
in  the  creation  of  God  and  the  artistic  works  of  man. 

Another  source  of  monotony  in  preaching  is  the  attempt 
to  group  all  kinds  of  excellence  in  each  sermon.  The  result 
is  a  failure  ;  simply  because  no  one  subject  will  admit  of  all 
excellence.  Excellence  is  relative.  What  is  good  in  an  argu- 
ment, may  not  be  good  in  exegesis  ;  what  is  good  in  a  sermon 
on  some  plain  and  practical  question,  may  not  be  good  in  the 
development  of  an  abstract  princiiDle.  It  is  a  jDrinciple  of 
landscape  gardening,  to  group  together  trees  of  the  same  kind, 
and  thus,  instead  of  mixing  the  varieties  in  each  group  and 
having  all  your  groups  alike,  by  planting  each  group  of  one 
kind,  and  the  different  groups  of  different  kinds,  you  will  se- 
cure the  highest  degree  of  variety,  and,  in  a  broad  landscape, 
of  beauty.  This,  in  point  of  fact,  is  the  way  in  which  nature 
more  commonly  works  ;  the  majiles  oftener  grow  together 
than  otherwise,  and  the  elms,  and  the  oaks.  So  in  preaching ; 
when  you  make  an  argument,  let  it  be  an  argument,  compact, 
clear,  symmetrical,  logical,  simple  in  its  terms,  and  reaching 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING,  75 

a  just  conclusion.  Let  it  prove  something.  When  you  at- 
tempt to  unfold  some  principle  of  God's  government  that 
needs  illustration  more  than  any  thing  else,  then  select  the 
best  illustrations,  and  treat  the  whole  subject  according  to  its 
nature.  When  your  sermon  is  largely  esegetical,  dealing  in 
explanations  of  words  and  phrases  and  the  connections  of  sen- 
tences, then  avoid  the  attempt  to  be  eloquent  and  moving, 
when  your  object  should  be  mainly  to  enlighten.  If  occasion- 
ally you  have  a  subject  which  admits  of  all  kinds  of  jjreach- 
ing — of  argument,  exegesis,  exhortation,  description,  then  fill 
it  full  of  all  the  excellence  it  will  admit.  In  this  way  you 
will  be  sure  to  have  your  preaching  fresh  and  varied. 

If  now,  in  addition  to  the  faithful  study  of  the  Bible  and 
the  history  of  the  Church,  you  should  make  your  pastoral 
work  give  a  special  character  to  your  pulpit  services,  you  can 
not  fail  to  have  a  constant  variety  and  freshness  of  thought. 
It  is  here  the  pastor  will  find  a  constant  illustration  of  the 
truths  of  the  Bible.  At  every  step  of  his  pastoral  work  he 
will  meet  with  minds  that  need  to  be  enlightened  ;  donbts  to 
be  solved  ;  tendencies  to  be  restrained  ;  efforts  to  be  encour- 
aged. As  he  returns  to  his  study  after  thus  mingling  with 
men,  topics,  trains  of  thought,  illustrations  of  truth,  will 
crowd  upon  him.  His  sermons  Avill  partake  of  the  character 
of  the  hour  and  the  time.  The  scenes  of  prosperity,  when  all 
nature  is  a  bridal,  and  ej^ithalamiums  are  heard  in  every  house- 
hold ;  the  times  when  sickness  and  trouble  and  death,  with 
raven  wing,  flit  from  family  to  family  ;  the  occasions  of  out- 
breaking worldliness,  when  the  S2)irit  of  earthliness  becomes 
epidemic,  invading  even  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord  ;  and  the 
hushed  and  solemn  scene,  where  the  fixed  eye,  the  silent 
attention,  give  token  of  the  presence  of  another  Spirit  in  its 
renewing  power  ;  the  peculiarities  of  individual  experience  in 
God's  children,  and  the  varying  aspects  of  the  youthful  por- 
tion of  the  congregation,  will  all  combine  to  mold  the  Sabbath 
work  and  give  a  special  freshness  and  life  to  the  minister's 
teachings.  These  things,  it  is  true,  will  not  create  the  sub- 
stantial body  of  his  preaching.     That  must  be  gained  by  the 


76  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

enlarged  course  of  intellectual  training  and  study  on  which  I 
have  already  insisted.  But  when  he  has  thus  mastered  the 
gi'eat  princij)les,  these  furnish  the  occasions  for  their  appli- 
cation, these  show  the  use  which  all  the  attainments  of  the 
study  may  be  made  to  subserve  in  the  pulpit.  The  principle 
of  gravitation  once  settled  and  its  laws  determined,  its  appli- 
cation reaches  to  all  material  objects  on  earth  and  in  the 
heavens.  The  simple  demonstrations  of  Euclid  are  steps  along 
which  the  mathematician  advances  to  the  resolution  of  higher 
truths.  The  lines  of  thought,  the  connected  reasonings,  the 
jH'ofound  views  of  the  different  2)arts  of  the  system  of  re- 
demption, brought  out  in  the  study,  and  for  a  time  lying  in 
the  brain  as  almost  useless  lumber,  in  varying  aspects  of  the 
pastor's  life,  are  brought  forth  at  length  to  settle  practical 
questions  and  give  force  to  the  develo^nnent  of  truth  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  living  hearts  panting  for  divine  knowledge- 
And  thus  all  the  parts  of  this  ministerial  education  will  work 
together.  He  who  gives  himself  wholly  to  his  work,  will  find 
light  flashing  all  along  his  path,  brightening  even  to  its  close. 
In  this  land  the  position  of  the  ministry  is  most  favorable 
for  the  exertion  of  a  far-reachino;  and  ennoblino;  influence. 
That  position  depends  primarily  on  the  character  and  qualifi- 
cations of  those  who  fill  it.  They  may  make  it  what  they 
please  ;  they  may  exalt  it  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  so  that 
it  shall  fill  up  the  full  measure  of  the  design  of  Jesus  in 
its  institution  ;  they  may  drag  it  down  until  there  are 
none  to  do  it  reverence.  With  none  of  Ca3sar's  robes  to 
give  it  a  formal  dignity,  it  has  none  of  Ceesar's  gilded  chains 
upon  its  limbs.  If  it  is  not  respected  ;  if  it  is  otherwise 
than  influential  and  mighty  to  bless  the  people  ;  it  can  only 
be  because  it  is  untrue  to  itself  and  the  Master.  The  fact 
is  that  it  excels  all  other  professions  in  its  means  of  influ- 
ence, as  the  sun  does  the  stars.  All  the  great  interests  of 
society  feel  necessarily  the  plastic  power  of  a  true,  faithful, 
and  able  minister.  His  presence,  his  words,  his  life,  his 
guiding  intellect  and  executive  hand,  touch  a  thousand  chords 
of  feelino;.      His  influence  is  like  light  and  heat — whether 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  77 

men  will  it  or  no,  it  ennobles,  guides,  educates.  Under 
it  industry  awakes  to  new  triumphs  ;  learning  and  education 
advance  to  more  commanding  positions  ;  even  law  and  medi 
cine  assume  a  manlier  tone.  This  minister  of  Christ  has  in 
himself  the  power  of  educated  mind  ;  he  has  in  himself  the 
power  of  a  high  moral  culture  ;  he  has,  from  his  very  associ- 
ation with  Jesus  Christ,  the  power  of  the  gospel ;  and  with 
all  this  power  he  stands  where  he  can  exert  it  most  effectively 
for  the  good  of  men.  He  has  an  acknowledged  position  in 
society  ;  he  occupies  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath  a  position  of 
direct  influence  unequaled  in  the  community.  He  deals  pub- 
licly and  privately  with  the  conscience  and  the  heart.  In 
time  of  trouble  he  comes  as  a  son  of  consolation  ;  in  the 
time  of  spiritual  distress,  he  comes  as  the  enlightened  guide, 
pointing  the  convicted  sinner  to  the  great  Deliverer  ;  he  takes 
the  young  convert  in  the  flush  of  his  new-born  hope,  and 
molds  him  into  activity  and  usefulness.  He  goes  down  to 
the  young,  and  entering  into  their  sympathies,  attracts  them 
to  the  path  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  He  works  out  and  through 
the  noblest  principles,  made  germinant  and  mighty  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  purify  and  exalt. 

Now,  if  a  man  with  all  the  authority  of  a  solemn  conse- 
cration to  the  ministry,  with  all  these  materials  of  influence 
and  these  opportunities  for  using  them,  fails  to  occujiy  a  high 
position  in  society  ;  fails  to  win  respect  and  confidence  ;  fails 
to  do  good  largely  and  to  reap  the  reward  of  a  well-doer, 
though  with  here  and  there  an  exception,  it  must  be  that  he 
alone  is  to  blame.  In  vain  does  he  utter  his  complaints  and 
lamentations  over  the  degeneracy  of  the  pews  ;  it  is  the  pul- 
pit that  is  degenerate.  What  is  a  Christian  ministry  worth 
if  it  has  not  the  power  to  lift  the  pews  up  from  their  degener- 
acy ;  what  is  it  good  for  if  society  must  first  be  exalted  and 
then  come  as  a  wet  nurse  to  it,  feed  it  with  cake  and  sweet- 
meats ;  take  its  hat  off  and  do  it  obeisance  as  if  ,it  were  a 
painted  doll  or  a  Catholic  saint .?  For  one,  I  rejoice  that  the 
ministry  is  wholly  dependent  upon  its  own  character  for  its 
influence  ;  and  that  it  must  work  with  all  its  might  either  to 


78  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES, 

be  or  to  do  what  Christ  designed.  Such  a  ministry,  able, 
faithful,  earnest,  will  neither  starve  nor  lack  influence.  They 
will  necessarily  occupy  the  positions  of  chief  power  in  the 
land.  They  will  be  felt  happily,  savingly,  all  through  so- 
ciety. They  will  influence  all  parts  of  education,  all  devel- 
opments of  social  life. 

If,  however,  with  all  the  fearful  responsibilities  of  this 
ministry  upon  his  soul,  he  shall  give  way  to  sloth  and  a  per- 
functory performance  of  duty  ;  if  he  shall  hesitate  to  enter  a 
field  of  labor  because  it  promises  more  of  toil  and  care  than  of 
honor  and  gold  ;  if  he  shall  give  himself  primarily  to  any 
other  object  than  that  of  making  full  proof  of  his  ministry, 
w'herever  the  providence  of  God  may  have  placed  him,  then 
he  ought  to  fail ;  then  he  will  fail.  Of  all  the  causes  which 
have  operated  to  break  up  the  pastoral  relation  (which  have 
come  under  my  observation)  not  one  is  so  common  and  so  in- 
fluential as  the  neglect  of  preparation  for  the  pulpit.  This 
lies  at  the  heart  of  a  minister's  power. 

If  a  man  is  diligent  in  mastering  the  elements  of  instruc- 
tion, if  he  gives  himself  to  this,  the  most  difficult  and  impor- 
tant part  of  his  work,  he  can  not  fail  to  attain  power  as  a 
preacher.  If  he  is  faithful  in  the  study  he  will  be  more  likely 
to  be  faithful  in  all  the  other  points  of  ministerial  labor. 
Three  words  describe  the  chief  work  of  the  Christian  preacher : 
Conquest — Edification — Education.  In  the  first,  the  gospel 
spreads  its  power  over  men's  minds  and  converts  sinners  to 
the  cross.  In  the  second,  the  gospel  is  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  just  development  of  the  Church  in  intelligence,  and 
grace,  and  active  labor  for  Christ.  In  the  third,  this  same 
truth  is  made  steadily  to  operate  upon  the  young  until  they 
too  have  been  garnered  as  the  jewels  of  Christ.  And  in  all  this 
work  the  preacher  is  to  reveal  his  powers  ;  tact,  patience,  a 
facility  of  conforming  to  the  circumstances  in  which  he  is 
placed,  he  should  have.  But  high  above  all  things  he  must 
shine  as  a  preacher  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Here  in 
this  pulpit,  from  this  candlestick,  he  should  give  forth  a  clear, 
bright  light  ;  a  light  flaming  higher  and  purer,  as  study,  ex- 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  79 

perience,  and  grace  divine,  minister  to  his  head  and  heart  the 
generous  oil  of  heavenly  truth.  With  a  position  known  and 
acknowledged  to  be  at  the  head  of  all  the  moral  and  religious 
forces  that  mold  society  ;  with  a  theme  the  grandest  the 
mind  of  man  can  study  ;  with  objects  related  immediately  to 
all  that  is  most  precious  in  society  and  ultimately  invested 
with  the  sacred,  awful  interest  of  eternity  ;  with  materials  all 
furnished  to  his  hand,  the  fullest  and  richest,  when  only  pa- 
tient thought  and  study  are  needed  to  master  them  ;  with  a 
divine  Saviour  to  encourage,  and,  as  the  Captain  of  salvation, 
to  lead  on  ;  with  a  Holy  Spirit  to  insph-e,  succor  and  give 
the  victory  ;  with  a  church  on  earth  in  sympathy,  and  many 
hearts  to  pray  for  him  as  he  stands,  Christ's  ambassador,  be- 
fore hundreds  of  souls — and  what  more  does  the  youthful  min- 
ister need  to  make  him  a  light  in  his  generation  ?  With  such 
objects  before  him  and  such  inspiring  forces  with  him,  his 
pulpit  should  be  a  throne  where  Jesus  shall  be  seen  revealing 
his  power  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath ;  where  the  scepter  of 
Mercy  above  that  of  Justice  should  be^  held  forth  to  the 
guilty ;  where  the  songs  that  ascend  from  the  sea  of  glass 
around  the  white  throne  on  high  shall  be  heard  in  their  glo- 
rious harmony  reechoed  on  earth.  To  this  place  he  should 
bring  the  hearts  of  all  his  parishioners  ;  praying  for  them  in 
faith  ;  dealing  with  each  in  true  love  ;  baptizing  them  with 
tears,  and  seeking  for  them  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  that 
speaketh  better  things  than  that  of  Abel.  A  ministry  filled 
with  this  spirit ;  love  of  God ;  inspired  with  the  love  of 
souls  ;  proficient  in  the  mastery  of  the  truth  ;  speaking  that 
truth  with  all  the  authority  and  fervor  of  a  messenger  of  the 
Most  High ;  with  all  the  copiousness,  force,  and  adaptation 
which  study,  experience,  and  jjrayer  can  supply  ;  with  a 
consciousness  of  immediate  alliance  with  Christ  Jesus,  and 
strength  derived  from  him,  will  be  a  blessed,  a  successful,  a 
glorious  ministry.  A  divine  life  will  flow  forth  from  it  upon 
all  society.  An  influence  quiet,  deep,  pure,  resistless,  almost 
unseen,  will  emanate  from  such  pulpits  filled  by  such  a  min- 
istry, under  whose  plastic  power  the  young  shall  grow  up  in 


80  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

beauty  and  Christian  strength ;  the  vicious  shall  be  reformed, 
or  driven  to  hide  themselves  and  their  vice  ;  while  the  mass 
of  the  community  shall  rise  in  intelligence,  hundreds  shall 
devote  themselves  to  the  Christian  life.  Multiply  such  a 
ministry  until  all  over  this  earth  they  shall  see  eye  to  eye, 
covering  the  globe  with  their  hallowed  ministrations,  and 
then  shall  come  on  that  day,  so  long  predicted,  when  one  song 
shall  employ  all  nations. 


Young  Gentlemen  of  the  Ehetoeical  Society  : 

I  have  thus  spoken  to  you  on  education  for  the  ministry 
in  the  larger  sense — a  sense  which,  while  it  embraces  that  de- 
partment to  which  your  society  is  more  immediately  devoted, 
is  not  limited  to  it.  My  apology  for  this  is  found  in  what  I 
have  already  stated,  and  in  the  fact  that  you  have  had  this 
subject  recently  so  fully  and  ably  discussed.  Some  of  you  are 
immediately  to  enter  the  ministry,  and  all  after  a  year  or  two 
will  have  completed  your  course.  I  come  to  you  to-day  with 
words  of  cheer.  Looking  back  over  the  score  of  years  just 
past,  since  by  the  hands  of  the  presbytery  I  was  set  apart  to 
this  ministry,  I  see  much  to  lament — defects,  great  and  nu- 
merous— yet  above  them  all  the  merciful  goodness  of  Grod  fol- 
lowing every  step,  seconding  every  right  effort  and  imparting 
a  joy  and  peace  in  this  work  the  world  knows  not  of.  The 
greatest  trials  of  your  life  will  not  spring  from  without  ;  you 
are  compassed  about  with  infirmities,  and  within  yourselves 
is  the  great  troubler  and  deceiver  of  men.  This  is  part  of 
Christ's  purpose,  to  use  imperfect  men  in  saving  the  imper- 
fect, that  the  glory  may  all  be  his  own.  Outward  trials  you 
will  meet.  Hemmed  in  at  times,  you  will  be  like  Israel  at 
the  Ked  Sea.  But  these  trials  will  become  the  ladder  down 
which  the  angels  of  God  will  descend  to  minister  to  you  ; 
faith  in  Christ  will  strike  the  waters  and  they  will  part 
asunder,  leaving  for  you  an  open  pathway  along  which  with 


THEOLOGICAL     TRAINING.  81 

songs  of  praise  you  will  pass  on  to  Canaan.  You  must  Lc 
stricken  with  the  rod  of  God  that  out  of  you  may  How  the 
water  that  is  to  heal  others.  You,  in  common  with  the  Church, 
are  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  Christ's  sufferings,  that  together 
you  may  be  crowned  with  joy  in  the  day  of  his  triumph.  Yet 
with  all  this  understood,  I  can  testify  to  you  this  day,  that 
the  work  on  which  you  are  entering,  is,  to  him  who  pursues 
it  with  a  single  mind,  the  most  Messed  on  earth.  You  are  to 
be  associated  with  Jesus  and  angels  and  the  spirits  of  the 
just  departed,  all  symj^athizing  with  you  in  your  holy  work. 
You  are  to  labor  in  fashioning  that  spiritual  temple  in  whose 
construction  is  to  be  revealed  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God. 
You  are  to  labor  not  only  for  the  interests  that  perish,  but 
for  souls  that  are  to  live  when  the  stars  cease  to  shine.  Cour- 
age then,  young  brethren ;  go  forward  in  the  name  of  Israel's 
God  and  plant  your  banners  on  all  the  high  places  of  Satan's 
empire  ;  wave  it  wherever  the  hosts  of  the  world  muster  in 
thickest  array  ;  fear  not  the  face  of  man  ;  lean  wholly  on  the 
arm  that  is  mighty  to  save,  and  ye  shall  win  a  good  degree 
and  shine  for  ever  as  stars  in  the  firmament  of  God, 


III. 

FEMALE    EDUCATION.* 

It  was  my  design,  when  the  duty  of  addressing  the  friends 
of  education  on  this  occasion  was  first  assigned  to  me,  to  erect 
before  you  a  complete  structure  in  itself,  although  without 
pretension  to  splendor  or  magnificence  ;  but  like  the  plans  of 
many  other  builders,  mine  has  so  outgrown  the  time  fixed  for 
the  completion  of  my  labor,  as  to  permit  the  throwing  up  of 
only  a  portion  of  the  main  edifice.  The  wings,  the  pillars, 
the  capitals,  the  cornices,  the  gateways,  all  the  completeness 
of  the  design  and  the  beauty  of  ornament,  you  will  look  for 
in  vain.  It  is  not  in  a  single  hour  so  vast,  so  interesting  a 
subject  as  that  of  Female  Education,  can  be  thoroughly  pre- 
sented. Its  nature,  its  influence,  its  field  of  action,  compre- 
hending a  wide  range  of  the  noblest  topics,  render  it  utterly 
impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  entire  theme  in  the. brief  limits 
ordinarily  assigned  to  these  discussions.  Indeed,  it  seems 
almost  a  superfluous  efibrt,  were  it  not  expected,  nay,  de- 
manded, by  the  very  circumstances  which  have  called  us  to- 
gether, to  discuss  the  subject  of  education  before  such  an 
audience  as  this.  It  is  to  discourse  on  Female  Education  in 
its  presence  ;  it  is  like  anatomizing  a  Venus  to  inspire  the 
sentiment  of  admiration,  or  delivering  an  oration  on  the  sub- 
lime in  the  valley  of  Chamouni.  I  do  not  say  this  in  the 
spirit  of  flattery  to  those  whose  cause  it  is  ever  a  privilege  to 
plead.  Man  never  flatters  when  he  utters  truth  or  justly  ap- 
preciates the  works  of  God,  however  exalted  may  be  his  sen- 
timents, however  comprehensive  his  language.     I  speak  thus 

*  An  address  delivered  at  the  dedication  of  Ohio  Female  College,  Septem- 
ber 4,  1849. 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  83 

in  the  spirit  of  devout  thanksgiving  to  our  Father  in  heaven, 
who,  in  the  crowning  work  of  his  creation,  gave  woman  to 
man,  made  weakness  her  strength,  modesty  her  citadel,  grace 
and  gentleness  her  attributes,  aifection  her  dower,  and  the 
heart  of  man  her  throne.  With  her,  toil  rises  into  pleasure, 
joy  fills  the  breast  with  a  larger  benediction,  and  sorrow, 
losing  half  its  bitterness,  is  transmuted  into  an  element  of 
power,  a  discipline  of  goodness.  Even  in  the  coarsest  life, 
and  the  most  depressing  circumstances,  woman  hath  this 
power  of  hallowing  all  things  with  the  sunshine  of  her  pres- 
ence. But  never  does  it  unfold  itself  so  finely  as  when  Edu- 
cation, instinct  with  Religion,  has  accomplished  its  most  suc- 
cessful work.  It  is  only  then  that  she  reveals  all  her  varied 
excellence  and  develops  her  high  capacities.  Education,  in- 
deed, adds  nothing  to  her.  It  only  unfolds  powers  that  were 
latent,  or  develops  those  in  harmony  and  beauty,  which 
otherwise  would  push  themselves  forth  in  shapes  grotesque, 
gnarled  or  distorted.  God  creates  the  material,  and  impresses 
upon  it-  his  own  laws.  Man,  in  education,  simply  seeks  to 
give  those  laws  scope  for  action.  The  uneducated  person,  by 
a  favorite  figure  of  the  old  classic  writers,  has  often  been  com- 
pared to  the  rough  marble  in  the  quarry  ;  the  educated  to 
that  marble  chiseled  by  the  hand  of  a  Phidias  into  forms  of 
beauty  and  pillars  of  strength.  But  the  analogy  holds  good 
in  only  a  single  point.  As  the  chisel  reveals  the  forms  which 
the  marble  may  be  made  to  assume,  so  education  unfolds  the 
innate  capacities  of  men.  In  all  things  else,  how  poor  the 
comparison  !  how  faint  the  analogy  !  In  the  one  case,  you 
have  an  aggregation  of  particles,  crystallized  into  shape,  with- 
out organism,  life  or  motion.  In  the  other,  you  have  life, 
growth,  expansion.  In  the  first,  you  have  a  mass  of  Hme- 
stone,  neither  more  nor  less  than  insensate  matter,  utterly 
incapable  of  any  alteration  from  within  itself.  In  the  second, 
you  have  a  living  body,  a  mind,  affections  instinct  with  power, 
gifted  with  vitality,  and  forming  the  attributes  of  a  being 
alhed  to  and  only  a  little  lower  than  the  angels.  These  con- 
stitute a  life,  which,  by  its  inherent  force,  must  grow  and 


84  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

unfold  itself  by  a  law  of  its  own,  whether  you  educate  it  or 
not.  Some  development  it  will  make,  some  form  it  will  as- 
sume by  its  own  irrepressible  and  spontaneous  action.  Tlie 
question,  with  us,  is  rather  what  that  form  shall  be  ;  whether 
it  shall  wear  the  visible  robes  of  an  immortal,  with  a  counte- 
nance glowing  with  the  intelligence  and  pure  affection  of 
cherub  and  seraph,  or  through  the  rags  and  sensual  impress 
of  an  earthly,  send  forth  only  occasional  gleams  of  its  higher 
nature.  The  great  work  of  education  is  to  stimulate  and 
direct  this  native  power  of  growth.  God  and  the  subject  co- 
working,  effect  all  the  rest. 

In  the  wide  sense  in  which  it  is  proposed  to  consider  the 
subject  of  education,  three  things  are  presupposed — personal 
talents,  personal  application,  and  the  Divine  blessing.  With- 
out capacities  to  be  developed,  or  with  very  inferior  capaci- 
ties, education  is  either  wholly  useless  or  only  partially  suc- 
cessful. As  it  has  no  absolute  creative  power,  and  is  utterly 
unable  to  add  a  single  faculty  to  the  mind,  so  the  first  condition 
of  its  success  is  the  capacity  for  improvement  in  the  subject. 
An  idiot  may  be  slightly  affected  by  it,  but  the  feebleness  of 
his  original  powers  forbids  the  noblest  results  of  education. 
It  teaches  men  how  most  successfully  to  use  their  own  native 
force,  and  by  exercise  to  increase,  it  but  in  no  case  can  it 
supply  the  absence  of  that  force.  It  is  not  its  province  to 
inspire  genius,  since  that  is  the  breath  of  God  in  the  soul, 
bestowed  as  seemeth  to  him  good,  and  at  the  disposal  of  no 
"finite  power.  It  is  enough  if  it  unfold  and  discipline,  and 
guide  genius  in  its  mission  to  the  world.  We  are  not  to  de- 
mand, that  it  shall  make  of  every  man  a  Newton,  a  Milton, 
a  Hall,  a  Chalmers,  a  Mason,  a  Washington  ;  or  of  every 
woman  a  ISappho,  a  De  Stael,  a  Koland,  a  Hemans.  The 
supposition  that  all  intellects  are  originally  equal,  however 
flattering  to  our  pride,  is  no  less  prejudicial  to  the  cause  of 
education  than  false  in  fact.  It  throws  upon  teachers  the 
responsibility  of  developing  talents  that  have  scarcely  an  ex- 
istence, and  securing  attainments  within  the  range  of  only 
the  very  finest  powers,  during  the  period  usually  assigned  to 


FEMALE     EDUCATION,  "  85 

this  work.  To  the  ignorant,  it  misrepresents  and  dishonors 
education,  when  it  presents  for  their  judgment  a  very  inferior 
intellect,  which  all  the  training  of  the  schools  has  not  inspired 
with  power,  as  a  specimen  of  the  results  of  liberal  pursuits. 
Such  an  intellect  can  never  stand  up  beside  an  active  though 
untutored  mind — untutored  in  the  schools,  yet  disciplined  by 
the  necessities  around  it.  It  is  only  in  the  comparison  of 
minds  of  equal  original  power,  but  of  different  and  unequal 
mental  discipline,  that  the  results  of  a  thorough  education 
reveal  themselves  most  strikingly.  The  genius  that,  partially 
educated,  makes  a  fine  bar-room  })olitician,  a  good  county 
judge,  a  respectable  member  of  the  lower  house  in  our  State 
legislatures,  or  an  expert  mechanic  and  shrewd  farmer,  when 
developed  by  study  and  adorned  with  learning,  rises  to  the 
foremost  rank  of  men.  Great  original  talents  will  usually 
give  indications  of  their  presence  amidst  the  most  depressing 
circumstances.  But  when  a  mind  of  this  stamp  has  been 
allowed  to  unfold  itself  under  the  genial  influence  of  large 
educational  advantages,  how  will  it  grow  in  power,  outstrip- 
ping the  multitude,  as  some  majestic  tree,  rooted  in  a  soil  of 
peculiar  richness,  rises  above  and  spreads  itself  abroad  over 
the  surrounding  forest  !  Our  inquiry,  however,  at  present,  is 
not  exclusively  respecting  individuals  thus  highly  gifted. 
Greniuses  are  rare  in  our  world  ;  sent  occasionally  to  break 
up  the  monotony  of  life,  impart  new  impulses  to  a  genera- 
tion, like  comets  blazing  along  the  sky,  startle  the  dozing 
mind,  no  longer  on  the  stretch  to  enlarge  the  boundaries  of 
human  knowledge,  and  rouse  men  to  gaze  on  visions  of  excel- 
lence yet  unreached.  Happily,  the  mass  of  mankind  are  not 
of  this  style  of  mind.  Uniting  by  the  process  of  education 
the  powers  which  God  has  conferred  upon  them,  with  those 
of  a  more  brilliant  order  which  are-  occasionally  given  to  p. 
few,  the  advancement  of  the  world  in  all  things  essential  to 
its  refinement  and  purity  and  exaltation,  is  probably  as  rapid 
and  sure  as  it  would  be  under  a  different  constitution  of  things. 
Were  all  equally  elevated,  it  might  still  be  necessary  for  some 
to  tower  above  the  rest,  and  by  the  sense  of  inequality  move 


86  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES, 

the  multitude  to  nobler  aspirations.  But  Avliile  it  is  not  j^or- 
niitted  of  God  that  all  men  should  actually  rise  to  thrones  in 
the  realms  of  mind,  yet  such  is  the  native  power  of  all  sane 
minds,  and  such  their  great  capacity  of  improvement,  that, 
made  subject  to  a  healthful  discipline,  they  may  not  only 
qualify  us  for  all  the  high  duties  of  life  on  earth,  but  go  on 
advancing  in  an  ever-perfecting  preparation  for  the  life  above. 
There  has  been  a  long-standing  disjiute  respecting  tlie  in- 
tellectual powers  of  the  two  sexes,  and  the  consequent  style 
of  education  suitable  to  each.  Happily,  the  truth  on  this 
subject  may  be  fully  spoken,  without  obliging  me,  in  the 
presence  of  such  an  assemblage  of  grace,  beauty  and  intelli- 
gence, to  exalt  the  father  at  the  expense  of  the  mother,  or 
ennoble  man  by  denying  the  essential  quality  of  woman.  It 
is  among  the  things  settled  by  experience,  that,  equal  or  not 
equal  in  talents,  woman,  the  moment  she  escapes  from  the 
despotism  of  brute  force,  and  is  suffered  to  unfold  and  exer- 
cise her  powers  in  her  own  legitimate  s])here,  shares  with  man 
the  scepter  of  influence  ;  and,  without  presuming  to  wrest 
from  him  a  visible  authority,  by  the  mere  force  of  her  gentle 
nature,  silently  directs  that  authority,  and  so  rules  the  world. 
She  may  not  debate  in  the  Senate,  or  preside  at  the  Bar — she 
may  not  read  philosophy  in  the  University  or  preach  in  the 
Sanctuary — she  may  not  direct  the  national  councils  or  lead 
armies  to  battle  ;  but  there  is  a  style  of  influence  resulting 
from  her  peculiar  nature  which  constitutes  her  power  and 
gives  it  greatness.  As  the  sexes  were  designed  to  fill  different 
positions  in  the  economy  of  life,  it  would  not  be  in  harmony 
with  the  manifestations  of  divine  wisdom  in  all  things  else,  to 
suppose  that  the  powers  of  each  were  not  peculiarly  fitted  for 
their  own  appropriate  sphere.  Woman  gains  nothing — she 
always  loses  when  she  leaves  her  own  sphere  for  that  of  man. 
When  she  forsakes  the  household  and  the  gentler  duties  of 
domestic  life  for  the  labors  of  the  field,  the  pulpit,  the  ros- 
trum, the  court-room,  she  always  descends  from  her  own 
bright  station,  and  invariably  fails  to  ascend  that  of  man. 
She  falls  between  the  two  :  and  the  world  gaze  at  her  as  not 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  87 

exactly  a  woman,  not  quite  a  man,  perplexed  in  what  cate- 
gory of  natural  history  to  classify  her.  This  remark  holds 
specially  true  as  you  ascend  from  savage  to  refined  society, 
where  the  riglits  and  duties  of  woman  have  been  most  fully 
recognized  and  most  accurately  defined.  Mind  is  not  to  be 
weighed  in  scales.  It  must  he  judged  hy  its  uses  and  its  m- 
fiuence.  And  who  that  compasses  the  peculiar  purpose  of 
woman's  life  ;  who  that  understands  the  meaning  of  those 
good  old  Saxon  words,  mother,  sister,  wife,  daughter  ;  who 
that  estimates  aright  the  duties  they  involve,  the  influences 
they  embody  in  giving  character  to  all  of  human  kind,  will 
hesitate  to  place  her  intellect,  witli  its  quickness,  delicacy  and 
persuasiveness,  as  high  in  the  scale  of  power  as  that  of  W\e 
father,  husband,  and  son  ?  If  we  estimate  her  mind  by  its 
actual  power  of  influence  when  she  is  permitted  to  fill  to  the 
best  advantage  her  circle  of  action,  we  shall  find  a  capacity 
for  education  equal  to  that  of  him,  who,  merely  in  reference 
to  the  temporaiy  relations  of  society,  has  been  constituted 
her  lord.  If  you  look  up  into  yonder  firmament  witli  your 
naked  eye,  the  astronomer  v\rill  point  you  to  a  star  which 
shines  down  upon  you  in  single  rays  of  pure  liquid  light. 
But  if  you  will  ascend  yon  eminence*  and  direct  towards 
it  that  magnificent  instrument  which  modern  science  has 
brought  to  such  perfection  of  power,  the  same  star  will  sud- 
denly resolve  itself  into  two  beautiful  luminaries,  equal  in 
brilliancy,  equal  in  all  stellar  excellence,  emitting  rays  of  dif- 
ferent and  intensely  vivid  hues,  yet  so  exactly  correspondent 
to  each  other,  and  so  embracing  each  other,  and  so  mingling 
their  various  colors  as  to  pour  upon  the  unaided  vision  the 
pure  S2)arkling  light  of  a  single  orb.  So  is  it  with  juan  and 
woman.  Created  twofold,  equal  in  all  human  attributes, 
excellence  and  influence,  different  but  correspondent,  to  the 
eye  of  Jehovah  the  harmony  of  their  union  in  life  is  perfect, 
and  as  one  complete  being,  that  life  streams  forth  in  rays  of 
light  and  influence  upon  society. 

*  Mount  Adams. 


bo  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

The  second  thing  presupposed  in  education,  is  personal 
application.  There  is  no  thorough  education  tliat  is  not  self- 
education.  Unlike  the  statue  which  can  he  wrought  only  from 
without,  the  great  work  of  education  is  to  unfold  the  life 
within.  This  life  always  involves  self-action.  The  scholar 
is  not  merely  a  passive  recipient.  He  grows  into  power  by 
an  active  reception  of  truth.  Even  when  he  listens  to  anoth- 
er's utterance  of  knowledge,  what  vigor  of  attention  and  mem- 
ory are  necessary  to  enable  him  to  make  that  knowledge  his 
own  ?  But  when  he  attempts  himself  to  master  a  subject  of 
importance  ;  when  he  would  rise  into  the  higher  region  of 
mathematics,  philosophy,  history,  poetry,  religion,  art  ;  or 
even  when  ho  would  prepare  himself  for  grappling  with  the 
groat  questions  of  life,  what  long  processes  of  thought !  what 
patient  gathering  together  of  materials  ;  what  judgment, 
memory,  comparison  and  ])rotracted  meditation  are  essential 
to  complete  success  ?  The  man  who  would  triumph  over 
obstacles  and  ascend  the  heights  of  excellence  in  the  realm  of 
mind,  must  work  with  the  continuous  vigor  of  a  steamship 
on  an  ocean  voyage.  Day  by  day  the  fires  must  burn,  and 
the  wheels  revolve  in  the  calm  and  in  the  gale — in  the  sun- 
shine and  the  storm.  The  innate  excellency  of  genius  or  tal- 
ents can  give  no  exemj)tion  to  its  possessor  from  this  law  of 
mental  growth.  An  educated  mind  is  neither  an  aggregation 
of  particles  accreted  around  a  center,  as  the  stones  grow  ;  nor 
a  substance,  which  placed  in  the  turner's  lathe,  comes  forth 
an  exquisitely  wrought  instrument.  The  mere  passing  through 
an  academy  or  college,  is  not  education.  The  enjoyment  of 
the  largest  educational  advantages,  by  no  means  infers  the 
possession  of  a  mind  and  heart  thoroughly  educated  ;  since 
there  is  an  inner  work  to  bo  performed  by  the  subject  of  those 
advantages,  before  he  can  lay  claim  to  the  possession  of  a  well 
disciplined  and  richly  stored  intellect  and  aifections.  The 
phrase,  "self-made  men,"  is  often  so  used  as  to  convey  the 
idea  that  the  persons  who  have  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a 
liberal  education,  are  rather  made  by  their  instructors.  The 
supposition  is,  in  part,  unjust.     The  outward  means  of  edu- 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  89 

cation  stimulate  the  mind,  and  tlms  assist  the  process  of  de- 
velopment ;  but  it  is  absolutely  essential  to  all  growth  in 
mental  or  moral  excellence,  that  the  person  himself  should 
be  enlisted  vigorously  in  the  work.  He  must  work  as  earnestly 
as  the  man  destitute  of  his  facilities.  The  difference  between 
the  two  consists,  not  in  the  fact  that  one  walks  and  the  other 
rides,  but  that  the  one  is  obliged  to  take  a  longer  road  to 
reach  the  same  point.  Teachers,  books,  recitations  and  lec- 
tures, facilitate  our  course,  direct  us  how  most  advantageously 
to  study,  point  out  the  shortest  path  to  the  end  we  seek,  and 
tend  to  rouse  the  soul  to  the  putting  forth  of  its  powers  ; 
but  neither  of  these  can  take  the  place  of,  or  forestall  intense 
personal  application.  The  man  without  instructors,  like  a 
traveler  without  guide-boards,  must  take  many  a  useless 
step,  and  often  retrace  his  way.  He  may,  after  this  exper- 
imental traveling,  at  length  reach  the  same  point  with  the 
person  who  has  enjoyed  superior  literary  aid,  but  it  will  cost 
the  waste  of  many  a  precious  hour,  which  might  have  been 
,  spent  in  enlarging  the  sphere  of  his  vision  and  perfecting 
the  symmetry  of  his  intellectual  powers.  In  all  cases  of 
large  attainments  and  ripe  character,  in  either  sex,  the  process 
of  growth  is  laborious.  Thinking  is  hard  work.  All  things 
most  excellent,  are  the  fruit  of  slow,  patient  working.  The 
trees  grow  slowly,  grain  by  grain — the  j^lanets  creep  round 
their  orbits,  inch  by  inch — the  rivers  hasten  to  the  ocean  by 
a  gentle  progress — the  clouds  gather  the  rain-di-op  from  the 
invisible  air,  particle  by  particle  ;  and  we  are  not  to  ask  that 
this  immortal  mind,  the  grandest  thing  in  the  world,  shall 
reach  its  perfection  by  a  single  stride,  or  independently  of  the 
most  early,  profound  and  protracted  self-labor.  It  is  enough 
for  us  that,  thankfully  accepting  the  assistance  of  those  who 
have  ascended  above  us,  we  give  ourselves  to  assiduous  toil, 
until  our  souls  grow  up  to  the  stature  of  perfect  men. 

The  third  thing  presupposed  in  education,  is  the  divine 
benediction.  In  all  spheres  of  action,  we  recognize  the  over- 
ruling providence  of  God  working  without  us,  and  his  Spirit 
commissioned  to  work  within  us.      Nor  is  there  any  work  of 


90  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

mortal  life  in  whicli  we  more  need  to  ally  unto  ourselves  the 
wisdom  and  energy  of  Jehovah,  as  an  essential  element  of 
success,  than  in  this  long  process  where  truth,  affection,  de- 
cision, judgment,  and  perseverance  in  the  teacher,  are  to  win 
into  the  paths  of  self-lahor  minds  of  every  degree  of  abihty, 
and  dispositions  of  every  variety.  When  God  smiles  upon 
us,  then  this  grand  work  of  molding  hearts  and  intellects  for 
their  high  destiny  moves  forward  without  friction,  and  the 
young  heart  silently  and  joyously  comes  forth  into  the  light. 

I  have  presupposed  three  things  in  reference  to  education. 
Permit  me  now  to  remark  that  the  field  which  it  covers  is 
also  threefold — the  body,  the  intellect,  and  the  heart. 

The  body  is  the  living  temple  of  the  soul.  It  is  more  than 
a  casket  for  the  preservation  of  the  jewel ;  it  is  more  than  the 
setting  of  the  diamond  ;  it  is  more  even  than  an  exquisitely 
constructed  dwelling  wherein  the  soul  lives,  and  works,  and 
worships.  It  is  a  living,  sensitive  agent,  into  Avhicli  the 
spirit  pours  its  own  life,  through  which  it  communes  with  all 
external  nature,  and  receives  the  effluxes  of  God  streaming 
from  a  material  creation.  It  is  the  admirable  ors-an  thi'ough 
which  the  man  sends  forth  his  influence  either  to  bless  and 
vivify,  or  to  curse  and  wither.  By  it,  the  immortal  mind 
conv'erts  deserts  into  gardens,  creates  the  forms  of  art,  sways 
senates,  and  sheds  its  plastic  presence  over  social  life.  The 
senses  are  the  finely  wrought  gates  through  which  knowledge 
enters  the  sublime  dome  of  thought ;  while  the  eye,  the 
tongue,  the  hand,  are  the  instruments  of  the  spirit's  power 
over  the  outer  world.  The  soul  incarnate  in  such  a  body, 
enjoys  a  living  medium  of  reciprocal  communication  between 
itself  and  all  things  without.  Meanwhile,  the  body  itself  does 
not  arrive  here  mature  in  its  powers  ;  nor  does  it  spring  sud- 
denly from  the  imbecility  of  the  infant  to  the  strength  of  the 
man.  By  slow  development,  by  a  gradual  growth,  in  analogy 
with  that  of  a  tree  whose  life  is  protracted,  it  rises,  after 
years  of  existence,  to  its  appointed  statm-e.  Advancing  thus 
slowly,  it  affords  ample  time  for  its  full  and  free  development. 

In  this  physical  training,  there  are  two  points  of  special 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  91 

importance.  The  first  is  the  removal  of  all  unnatural  re- 
straints and  the  pressure  of  unhealthy  customs  ;  the  second 
is  the  opportunity,  the  motive  and  the  habit  of  free  exercise 
in  the  pure  air  of  heaven.  These,  as  causes  of  health  and  fine 
physical  development,  are  interwoven  as  are  their  opposites. 
In  the  progress  of  society  from  barbarism  to  refinement,  it 
has  often  been  the  case  that  men,  in  departing  from  what  was 
savage,  have  lost  that  which  was  natural ;  and  in  their  ascent 
from  the  rude  have  left  behind  that  which  was  essential  to 
the  highest  civilization.  In  escaping  from  the  nakedness  of 
the  barbarian,  they  have  sometimes  carried  dress  to  an  ex- 
treme of  art  which  renders  it  untrue  to  nature  and  productive 
of  manifold  evils.  In  ascending  from  the  simple  and  rude 
gastronomy  of  the  savage,  they  have  brought  the  art  of  cook- 
ery to  such  an  excess  of  luxury  as  to  enervate  society  by 
merely  factitious  appetites.  In  the  formation  of  habits  of 
life,  social  intercourse  and  amusements  adapted  to  a  refined 
state,  they  have  introduced  many  things  at  war  with  the 
healthful  development  of  both  body  and  mind.  The  manly 
exercises  of  swimming,  skating,  riding,  hunting,  ball  playing  ; 
the  bracing  walk  in  storm  and  sunshine ;  the  free  ramble  over 
hill  and  dale,  all  adcqjted  to  develop  an  independent,  self-rely- 
ing character,  with  the  occasional  reunion  where  wit,  science, 
healthful  industry  and  serene  piety  shed  their  benedictions  ; 
associating  that  which  is  free  and  bold  with  the  refined  and 
sacred ;  all  these  are,  in  many  cases,  displaced  by  frivolous 
and  less  healthful  excitements.  Our  girls  and  our  boys,  pre- 
maturely exalted  into  young  gentlemen  and  ladies,  are  tutored 
by  dancing-masters  and  fiddlers,  taught  postures  and  the 
right  use  of  feet ;  their  manners  disciplined  into  an  artificial 
stifihess ;  and  the  free  developments  of  an  open  nature  formed 
under  the  genial  influence  of  truly  polite  parents — the  finest 
discipline  in  the  world — arrested  by  the  strictures  of  a  purely 
conventional  regimen,  in  which  the  laws  of  health  and  the 
higher  spiritual  life  seem  never  to  have  been  consulted.  With 
such  a  physical  training,  associated  with  a  corresponding  edu- 
cation of  the  mind  and  heart,  they  are  ripe  for  the  customs 


92  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

and  fashions  of  life  in  harmony  therewith  ;  and  totally  averse 
to  the  purer,  manlier,  and  nobler  duties  and  pleasures  of  a 
better  state  of  society.  To  dress  and  exhibit  themselves  ;  to 
crowd  the  saloon  of  every  foreign  trifler,  who,  under  the  abused 
name  of  art  and  for  the  sake  of  gold,  seeks  to  minister  to  us 
those  meretricious  excitements  which  associate  themselves 
with  declining  states  and  artificial  forms  of  life  ;  to  waste  the 
most  precious  hours  of  night,  set  apart  by  the  God  of  nature 
for  repose,  in  dancing,  eating,  drinking  and  revelry,  follow 
naturally  enough  upon  such  training.  Then  in  the  rear,  come 
disease  of  body  and  mind,  broken  constitutions  and  broken 
hearts  ;  and  last  of  all,  with  grim  majesty,  death,  prematurely 
summoned,  avenges  this  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature  upon 
the  miserable  victims,  and  quenches  the  glare  of  this  brilliant 
day  in  the  darkness  of  the  tomb.  How  utterly  different  is 
such  training  and  such  modes  of  life  consequent  upon  it,  from 
those  which  are  dictated  by  a  thorough  understanding  of  our 
nature  and  the  great  purposes  of  our  existence.  For  in  all 
these  things  we  shall  find  there  exists  a  connection  sufiiciently 
obvious  between  the  right  education  of  the  sj)irit  and  the 
body  ;  and  that  so  strong  is  their  mutual  influence  as  to  render 
it  of  great  importance  to  care  for  them  both  in  harmony  with 
each  other.  Then  shall  we  regard  the  perfection  of  the  form 
and  the  vigor  of  our  bodily  powers.  Casting  away  whatever 
did  not  consist  with  the  health  and  finer  developments  of  the 
physical  system,  we  should  pursue  that  course  of  education 
which  best  prepared  the  body  for  its  grand  work  as  the  living 
agent  of  the  spirit. 

In  considering  physical  training,  it  is  allowable  for  us  to 
look  both  at  beauty  and  intellectual  power.  A  noble  form  in 
man  ;  a  fine,  beautiful,  healthful  form  in  woman,  are  desir- 
able for  their  outward  influence.  Created  susceptible  of  deep 
impressions  from  external  appearances,  it  is  neither  religion 
nor  good  sense  to  undervalue  them.  That  men  generally  have 
over-estimated  their  worth,  is  a  reason  why  we  should  reduce 
them  to  their  true  position,  and  not  sink  them  below  it.  The 
palace  of  the  soul  should  befit  its  possessor.    And  as  Grod  has 


F  E  M  A  L  E     P:  D  U  C  A  T  I  O  N  .  93 

taken  pleasure  in  scattering  images  of  beauty  all  over  the 
earth,  and  made  us  susceptible  of  pleasure  therefrom,  it  is 
right  that  in  the  education  of  our  children  we  should  seek  for 
the  unfolding  of  the  noblest  and  most  beautiful  forms.  Shall 
we  beautify  our  dwellings  ;  adorn  our  grounds  with  plants, 
flowers  and  trees  of  various  excellence  ;  improve  the  breed  of 
our  cattle,  and  yet  care  not  for  the  constitutions  and  forms 
of  those  who  are  on  earth  the  master-pieces  of  divine  wisdom 
and  the  possessors  of  all  this  goodly  heritage  ?  Most  of  all, 
however,  as  the  agent  of  the  spirit,  should  we  seek  to  rear  our 
children  in  all  healthful  customs  and  invigorating  pursuits. 
It  is  possible,  indeed,  that  a  mind  of  gigantic  powers  may 
sometimes  dwell  in  a  feeble  frame,  swayed  to  and  fro  by  every 
breath  of  air.  But  we  are  sure  that  such  a  physical  state  is 
the  source  of  manifold  vexations,  pains  and  loss  of  power.  It 
is  a  state  which  the  possessor  never  covets  ;  which  oppresses 
him  with  the  consciousness  of  an  energy  he  is  forbidden  to 
put  forth,  and  a  force  for  moving  the  world  crippled  by  the 
impediment  of  a  frail  body.  For  the  full  discharge  of  all  the 
duties  of  life  ;  for  the  affording  to  our  mental  powers  a  fair 
field  for  their  action  ;  and  especially  for  the  education  and 
advancement  of  succeeding  generations,  it  is  indispensable  the 
vigor  of  the  body  should  correspond  to  the  vigor  of  the  intel- 
lect, so  far  as  to  constitute  the  one  the  most  efficient  agent  of 
the  other.  It  has  rarely  been  taken  into  view,  that,  aside 
from  the  personal  benefits  of  health  in  the  greater  power  of 
present  action,  the  intense  intellects  and  feeble  frames  of  one 
generation  are  a  ruinous  draft  upon  both  the  physical  and 
mental  powers  of  that  which  succeeds.  A  race  of  overwrought 
brains  in  enfeebled  bodies,  must  be  recruited  from  a  more 
healthful  stock,  or  their  posterity  will,  in  time,  decline  into 
idiocy  or  cease  from  the  earth.  The  process  of  degeneracy, 
by  an  infallible  law,  will  pass  from  the  body  to  the  intellect ; 
and  the  descendant  of  a  Luther  or  a  Bacon  go  down  to  the 
level  of  the  most  stujjid  boor  that  drives  his  oxen  over  the 
sands  of  southern  Africa.  It  is  with  reference  to  this  impor- 
tant part  of  education,  that  I  congratulate  you  on  the  position 


94  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

of  this  institution.  On  this  elevated  spot,  in  this  pure  air, 
with  these  virgin  forests  casting  their  shadows  around  you 
and  inviting  to  meditation,  there  is  open  to  the  youth  who 
may  here  assemble,  the  opportunity  of  engaging  in  healthful 
physical  recreations.  Here  may  the  mothers  of  generations 
to  come,  gain  a  vigor  of  constitution  and  develoj)  forms  no 
less  fitted  for  the  endurance  of  the  trials  of  life,  than  prepared  ' 
to  shed  the  attractions  of  grace  and  beauty  over  society. 

Let  us  now  enter  upon  the  second  jiart  of  the  field  of  edu- 
cation, the  training  of  the  intellect.  It  is  obvious  that  we 
have  in  this,  a  much  higher  subject  to  deal  with  than  that  on 
which  we  have  just  dwelt.  The  physical  form  in  a  few  years 
develops  itself,  and  soon  reaches  its  utmost  limit  of  growth. 
It  is  then  an  instrument  whose  powers  we  seek  to  maintain 
but  cannot  increase.  As  time  advances,  indeed,  those  powers 
gradually  yield  to  the  influence  of  disease  or  age,  until  the 
senses  begin  to  neglect  their  office,  the  brain  declines  in  vigor, 
while  the  tongue,  the  eye,  the  hand  forget  their  accustomed 
work  in  the  imbecility  wrought  by  the  approach  of  death. 
But  no  such  limitation  is  manifest  to  us  in  the  growth  and 
future  life  of  the  intellect.  Dependent  upon  the  body  for  a 
healthful  home  in  this  world,  and  so  far  limited  by  the  con- 
ditions of  mortality,  it  yet  seems  to  have  in  itself  no  absolute 
limitation  bounding  its  prospective  and  possible  attainments, 
save  as  the  finite  never  can  fully  attain  to  the  infinite.  Grant- 
ing it  a  congenial  home,  a  fitting  position,  with  full  oppor- 
tunity for  progress,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  height  this  side 
infinity  which  in  the  ascent  of  ages  it  seems  not  caj)able  of 
reaching.  All  creatures  are  finite,  and  as  such,  limited ; 
but  the  horizon  around  the  soul  is  so  amazingly  expansive, 
and  the  capacities  of  the  mind  for  progress  so  immense,  that 
to  us,  in  our  present  state,  it  is  almost  as  if  there  were  no 
limitations  at  all. 

The  j^ower  of  the  intellect  to  acquire  facts  and  relations, 
and  from  them  to  ascend  to  the  laws  which  control  them  ;  its 
power  to  advance  in  a  daily  ascending  path  into  the  region  of 
intuition,  where  masses  of  things,  once  isolated  or  chaotic. 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  95 

range  themselves  into  liarmony,  and  move  in  numbers  most 
musical  ;  its  power  thus  to  rise  into  an  enlarging  vision  of 
truths  now  latent,  and  behold  directly  laws,  relations,  and 
facts  which  once  evaded  the  sight,  or  were  only  seen  dimly 
and  after  great  toil,  it  is  utterly  beyond,  our  sphere  to  limit. 
We  know  that  wliat  to  us  in  childhood  was  a  mystery,  is  now 
simple  ;  that  some  of  the  grandest  laws  of  the  material  world 
which  a  few  years  back  were  reached  only  after  stupendous 
labor,  are  now  beconj;,e  intuitive  truths  ;  and  we  can  see  no 
reason  why  the  human  mind  is  not  capacitated  for  just  such 
advances  eternally  ;  at  every  ascent  sweeping  its  vision  over  a 
broader  range  of  truths,  and  rising  ever  nearer  that  Omniscient 
Intellect  to  which  all  things  are  open.  The  instinct  and  im- 
perfect reason  of  the  noblest  brutes,  are  here  in  marked  con- 
trast to  the  mind  of  man.  They  reach  the  limit  of  knowledge 
with  the  ripening  of  their  physical  frame  ;  a  limit  which  no 
training,  however  protracted  and  ingenious,  can  over  pass  ; 
which  never  varies,  except  as  a  cord  drawn  around  a  center 
may  vary,  by  being  enlarged  on  the  one  side  and  contracted 
on  the  other  ;  and  which  prepares  them  without  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  particle  of  superfluous  intelligence  for  their  brute  life 
as  the  servitors  of  man.  While  his  mind,  never  wholly  sta- 
tionary for  a  long  period,  has  capacities  for  development  that 
seem  to  spurn  a  merely  sensual  Ufe,  and  lift  the  spirit  to  a 
companionship  with  angels  ;  which,  instead  of  resting  satisfied 
with  the  mere  demands  of  the  body,  seeks  to  penetrate  the 
deep  springs  of  life,  discern  the  exquisite  organism  of  an 
insect's  wing,  measure  the  stars,  and  analyze  the  light  that 
reveals  them. 

Possessing  an  intellect  of  so  fine  a  nature,  it  is  not  to  be 
questioned  that,  according  to  our  opportunities,  it  is  incum- 
bent on  us  to  carry  forward  its  improvement  from  childhood 
to  hoary  age.  A  power  like  this,  of  indefinite  expansion,  in 
directions  surpassingly  noble,  among  subjects  infinitely  grand, 
has  been  conferred  that  it  might  be  expanded,  and  go  on  ex- 
panding, in  an  eternal  progression  ;  that  it  might  sweep  far 
beyond  its  present  horizon  and  firmament,  where  the  stars 


96  EDUCATIONAL      DISCOURSES. 

now  shining  above  us,  shall  become  the  jeweled  pavement 
beneath  us,  while  above  still  yoU  other  spheres  of  knowledge, 
destined  in  like  manner  to  descend  below  us  as  the  trojihies 
of  our  victorious  progress. 

To  bury  such  an  intellect  as  this  in  the  common  places  of 
a  life  of  mere  sense ;  to  confine  it  to  the  narrow  circle  of  a 
brute  instinct  and  reason  ;  to  live  in  such  a  world,  with  the 
infinite  mind  of  Jehovah  looking  at  us  from  all  natural  forms, 
breathing  around  us  in  all  tones  of  music,  shining  upon  us 
from  all  the  host  of  heaven,  and  soliciting  us  to  launch  away 
into  an  atmosphere  of  knowledge  and  ascend  to  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  great  First  Cause,  even  as  the  bird  challenges 
the  fledgeling  to  leave  its  nest,  and  be  at  home  on  the  wing  ; 
to  live  amid  such  incitements  to  thought  yet  never  to  lift  the 
eyes  from  the  dull  round  of  physical  necessities,  is  treason 
toward  our  higher  nature,  the  voluntary  defacement  of  the 
grandest  characteristic  of  our  being.  The  education  of  the 
intellect  is  not  a  question  to  be  debated  with  men  who  have 
the  slightest  appreciation  of  their  noble  capacities.  The  ob- 
ligation to  improve  it  is  commensurate  with  its  susceptibility 
of  advancement  and  our  opportunities.  It  is  not  limited  to  a 
few  years  in  early  life,  it  presses  on  us  still  in  manhood  and 
declining  age.  Such  is  a  general  statement  of  the  duty  of  in- 
tellectual improvement. 

In  the  actual  education  of  the  mind,  our  course  will  neces- 
sarily be  modified  by  the  ultimate  objects  at  which  we  aim. 
Properly,  these  are  twofold — the  first  general,  the  second 
specific.  The  first  embraces  the  general  training  of  all  our 
intellectual  powers,  with  direct  reference  to  the  highest  spirit- 
ual life  here  and  hereafter.  We  place  before  us  that  state  of 
immortality  to  which  the  present  stands  in  the  relation  of  a 
portico  to  a  vast  temple.  The  intellect  is  itself  destined  to 
survive  the  body,  and  as  the  instrument  through  which  the 
heart  is  to  be  disciplined  and  fitted  for  this  condition  of  ex- 
alted humanity,  is  to  be  informed  with  all  that  truth  most 
essential  for  this  purpose.  Whatever  there  be  in  the  heavens 
or  the  earth — in  books  or  works  of  men,  to  discij)line,  enlarge, 


FEMALE     EDUCATION,  97 

and  exalt  the  mind,  to  that  we  shall  be  attracted.  A  right 
heart  breathes  in  an  atmosphere  of  truth  ;  it  grows  and  re- 
joices in  communion  with  all  the  light  that  shines  upon  it 
from  the  works  or  word  of  God.  All  truth,  indeed,  is  not  of 
the  same  importance.  There  is  that  which  is  primary  and 
essential ;  there  is  that  which  adds  to  the  comj)letcness,  with- 
out going  to  the  foundation,  of  character.  The  truths  that 
enter  a  well  cultivated  mind,  animated  by  right  sentiments, 
will  arrange  themselves  by  a  natural  law  in  the  relative  posi- 
tions they  hold  as  the  exponents  of  the  character  of  Grod,  and 
the  means  more  or  less  adapted  to  promote  the  purity  and 
elevation  of  man.  All  truth  is  of  Grod  ;  yet  it  is  not  all  of 
equal  value  as  an  educational  influence.  There  are  diiferent 
circles — some  central,  some  remote.  The  crystals  of  the  rock, 
the  stratification  of  the  globe,  and  the  facts  of  a  like  character, 
will  fill  an  outer  circle,  as  beautiful,  or  skillful,  or  wonderful, 
in  the  demonstration  of  divine  power,  but  not  as  in  them- 
selves unfolding  the  highest  attributes  of  God.  The  archi- 
tecture of  animate  nature,  the  processes  of  vegetable  life,  the 
composition  of  the  atmosphere,  the  clouds  and  the  water  will 
range  themselves  in  another  circle,  within  the  former,  and 
gi'adually  blending  with  it,  as  the  manifestations  of  the  wis- 
dom and  beneficence  of  God.  Then  the  unfoldings  of  his 
moral  character  in  the  government  of  nations,  in  the  facts  of 
history,  and  in  the  general  revelation  of  himself  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, will  constitute  another  band  of  truth  concentric  with 
the  others,  yet  brighter  and  nearer  the  center.  While  at 
length  in  the  cross  and  person  of  Christ — in  the  system  of 
redemption,  and  all  the  great  facts  which  it  embodies,  we  be- 
hold the  innermost  circle  that,  sweeping  round  Jehovah  as  its 
center,  reflects  the  light  of  his  being,  most  luminously  upon 
the  universe.  Such  is  obviously  the  relative  order  of  the 
truth  we  seek  to  know.  It  is  the  different  manifestation  of 
God,  ascending  from  the  lowest  attributes  of  divinity,  to  those 
which  constitute  a  character  worthy  the  homage  and  love  of 
all  beings.  Now  as  it  is  the  great  object  of  life  to  know  God 
and  enjoy  him,  so  in  education  we  are  to  keep  this  steadily  in 


98  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

view,  and  follow  the  order  of  procedure  for  the  attainment  of 
it  which  God  has  himself  established.  To  spend  the  life  or 
the  years  of  youth  on  the  study  of  rocks  and  crystals,  to  the 
neglect  of  the  higher  moral  truths  which  lie  within  this  circle, 
is  unpardonable  folly — a  folly  not  to  be  redeemed  by  the  fact 
that  such  knowledge  is  a  partial  unfolding  of  God  to  man. 
It  is  little  better  than  studying  the  costume  to  the  neglect  of 
the  person — than  the  examination  of  the  frame  to  the  neglect 
of  the  masterpiece  of  a  Kaphael  enclosed  within  it — than  the 
criticism  of  a  single  window  to  the  neglect  of  the  glorious 
dome  of  St.  Peter's — than  the  view  of  the  rapids  to  the  ne- 
glect of  the  mighty  fall  of  Niagara.  In  education,  the  ob- 
servance of  this  natural  order  of  truth,  will  bring  us,  at  length, 
to  that  which  fills  the  outer  circle,  and  thus  all  the  kinds  of 
knowledge  will  receive  a  just  attention.  Indeed,  the  study  of 
the  one  naturally  lead  us  to  the  other.  We  shall  pass  from 
the  inner  to  the  outer  lines  of  truth,  and  back  again,  learning 
all  the  while,  this  important  lesson,  that  the  study  of  the 
more  remote  class  of  truths  is  designed  to  conduct  us  to  a 
more  perfect  appreciation  of  that  which  is  moral,  religious, 
central,  and  saving ;  while  the  study  of  the  higher  parts  of 
revelation  will  show  us  that  the  former  come  in  to  finish  and 
perfect  the  latter.  We  do  not  despise  the  frieze — the  archi- 
trave— the  cornice — the  spires  and  the  various  ornaments  of 
the  temple,  because  we  regard  as  most  essential,  the  founda- 
tion, the  corner-stone,  the  walls,  and  the  roofing  ;  but  in  due 
time  we  seek  to  impart  to  our  edifice,  not  only  strength  and 
security,  but  the  beauty  of  the  noblest  and  richest  adorn- 
ment. According  to  our  means,  and  as  the  necessities  of  life 
will  permit,  we  shall  seek  for  knowledge  from  all  its  various 
spheres,  and  despise  nothing  that  God  has  thought  worthy 
of  his  creative  power  or  sujiporting  energy. 

Now  this  large  course  of  education  in  obedience  to  its  first 
great  object,  is  not  limited  by  any  thing  in  itself  or  in  us,  to 
a  particular  class  of  individuals.  It  is  the  common  path 
along  which  all  intelligent  beings  are  to  pass.  The  object  to 
which  it  conducts  is  before  us  all,  and  common  to  all.     It  is 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  99 

not  divided  into  departments  for  separate  classes.  Woman, 
as  well  as  man,  has  an  interest  in  it,  and  an  obligation  to 
seek  for  it,  just  as  binding  as  that  which  rests  on  him.  All 
souls  are  equal,  and  though  intellects  may  vary,  yet  the  pur- 
suit of  truth  for  the  exaltation  of  the  soul,  is  common  to  them 
all.  As  this  obligation  to  unfold  the  powers  of  the  intellect, 
that  we  may  grasp  the  truth,  is  primary,  taking  precedence 
of  other  objects — since  all  duty  is  based  on  knowledge,  and 
all  love  and  worship,  and  right  action  on  the  intelligence  and 
apprehension  of  G-od — so  education,  which  in  this  department 
is  but  the  development  of  our  capacity,  preparing  us  to  pur- 
sue the  truth,  and  master  the  difficulties  which  frown  us 
away  from  its  attainment,  rises  into  a  duty  the  most  impera- 
tive upon  all  rational  beings.  The  same  path  here  stretches 
onward  before  both  sexes,  the  same  motives  impel  them,  the 
same  objects  are  presented  to  them,  the  same  obligations  rest 
upon  them.  Neither  youth  nor  age — neither  man  nor  woman, 
can  here  make  a  limitation  that  shall  confine  one  sex  to  a 
narrow  corner — an  acre  of  this  broad  world  of  intelligence — 
and  leave  the  other  free  to  roam  at  large  among  all  sciences. 
Whatever  it  is  truly  healthful  for  the  heart  of  man  to  know ; 
whatever  befits  his  spiritual  nature  and  immortal  destiny, 
that  is  just  as  open  to  the  mind  of  woman,  and  just  as  con- 
sistent with  her  nature.  To  deny  this  abstract  truth,  we 
must  either  affirm  the  sentiment  falsely  ascribed  to  Mahomet, 
although  harmonizing  well  enough  with  his  faith  in  general, 
that  women  haye  no  souls  ;  or  take  the  ground  that  truth  in 
this,  its  widest  extent,  is  not  as  essential  to  their  highest  wel- 
fare as  it  is  to  ours  ;  or  assert  that  possessing  inferior  intel- 
lects, they  are  incapable  of  deriving  advantage  from  the 
general  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  therefore  must  be  confined 
to  a  few  primary  truths,  of  which  man  is  to  be  the  judge. 
The  first  supposition  we  leave  with  the  fanaticism  that  may 
have  given  it  birth,  and  with  which  it  so  well  harmonizes  ; 
the  second  we  surrender  to  those  atheistic  fools  and  swindling 
politicians  who  can  see  no  excellence  in  knowledge,  save  as  it 
may  minister  to  their  sensual  natures,  or  assist  them  to  cajole 


100  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES, 

the  people ;  while  the  man  who  maintains  the  third,  we  would 
remit  to  a  court  of  Ladies,  with  Queen  Elizabeth  as  judge, 
Madame  De  Stael  as  prosecuting  attorney,  and  Hannah 
More,  Mrs.  Hemans,  and  other  bright  spirits  of  the  same 
sex,  as  the  jury. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  at  length  on  the  first  and  most  general 
object  before  us  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  because  it  is 
really  of  the  highest  and  noblest  education,  common  to  both 
sexes,  and  unlimited  by  any  thing  in  their  character  or  dif- 
ferent spheres  of  life. 

The  second  and  special  object  of  education,  is  the  prepa- 
ration of  youth  for  the  particular  sphere  of  action  to  which 
he  designs  to  devote  his  life.  It  may  seem  at  first  that  this 
general  education  of  which  I  have  just  spoken,  as  it  is  most 
comprehensive  and  reaches  to  the  widest  range  of  subjects,  so 
it  should  be  the  only  style  of  training  for  an  immortal  mind. 
If  we  regarded  man  simply  as  spiritual  and  immortal,  this 
might  be  true  ;  but  when  we  descend  to  the  practical  realities 
of  life  ;  when  we  behold  in  him  a  mixed  nature,  on  one  side 
touching  the  earth,  on  the  other  surveying  the  heavens,  his 
bodily  nature  having  its  necessities  as  well  as  his  spiritual, 
we  find  ourselves  limited  in  the  manner  of  education  and  the 
pursuit  of  knowledge.  The  division  of  labor  and  of  objects 
of  pursuit,  is  the  natural  result  of  these  physical  necessities 
in  connection  with  the  imperfection  of  the  human  mind  and 
the  constitution  of  civilized  society.  It  is  a  part  of  our  men- 
tal discipline,  that,  instead  of  ascending  at  once  to  the  region 
of  intuition — instead  of  grasping  rapidly  the  truths  essential 
to  our  greatest  success  here,  the  mind  can  only  master  them 
by  a  series  of  laborious  efforts,  mounting  up,  step  by  step, 
until  it  has  attained  a  vigor  of  judgment  and  an  amount  of 
knowledge  sufficient  to  qualify  it  to  act  for  itself.  The  child 
has  grown  upon  the  infant  ;  the  youth  upon  the  child  ;  and 
the  man  upon  the  youth.  Slowly  has  the  intellect  revealed 
its  power  ;  by  mastering  only  here  and  there  a  single  subject, 
and  that  gradually,  has  it  come  into  a  clear  light.  From  its 
inability  to  grasp  things  in  masses,  and  to  ascend  at  once  to 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  101 

an  intuitive  view  of  any  one  branch  of  knowledge,  springs  the 
necessity  of  limiting  it  clown  to  a  few  specific  departments  of 
science,  to  the  mastery  of  which  it  must  devote  much  of  early 
life  and  opening  manhood,  before  it  can  gain  an  acquaintance 
with  it  sufficient  to  give  success. 

It  is  the  result  also  of  the  natural  growth  of  families  into 
large  societies,  that  the  various  pursuits  of  life  should  be  di- 
vided off  among  classes  and  individuals.  The  savage  is  the 
most  perfect  illustration  of  the  individual  pursuit  of  all  the 
various  objects  which,  in  his  view,  belong  to  this  earthly 
state.  Each  man  is  but  the  likeness  of  his  fellow  ;  and  all 
particijiate  equally  in  the  business  of  their  wild  life.  Trades, 
professions,  the  division  of  employments,  are  unknown.  Their 
life  is  all  the  same,  one  trade,  profession,  employment,  from 
youth  to  age.  But  no  sooner  does  civilization  enter,  and  the 
earth  become  thickly  settled,  than  men  approjjriate  to  them- 
selves some  specific  form  of  labor.  Art  is  the  child  of  divided 
toil ;  of  trades,  professions,  of  different  and  limited  fields  of 
thought.  All  the  magnificence  of  cities,  the  luxuries  and 
comforts  of  refined  society,  the  abundance  of  physical  wealth, 
the  great  works  in  science,  the  exalted  products  of  liberal 
pursuits,  spring  from  that  division  of  labor  which  has  made 
carpenters,  merchants,  physicians,  lawyers.  The  style  of  re- 
finement, intelligence  and  art  to  which  this  division  gives  rise, 
is  far  higher  than  can  possibly  exist  where  all  the  mental 
faculties  are  in  every  man  spread  over  all  the  various  pursuits 
necessary  to  comfort  and  progress.  With  a  given  quantity, 
diffusion  is  gained  only  at  the  cost  of  depth.  They  who  seek 
at  once  to  master  all  things,  become  superficial  in  all.  From 
such  minds,  no  great  products  of  skill  or  science  can  ever  pro- 
ceed. It  is  the  attribute  of  Divinity  to  diffuse  itself  at  once 
over  all  things,  and  create  without  exhaustion  an  unlimited 
number  of  forms.  It  is  imperative  on  man,  from  the  very 
imperfection  of  his  powers,  to  work  slowly  ;  to  act  efficiently 
only  on  individual  things  ;  to  build  up  a  branch  of  art ;  to 
carry  forward  a  science  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  by  long 
protracted  devotion  to  it  as  the  one  leading  subject  of  atten- 


102  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES.         • 

tion.  In  tills  way  society  gains  vastly  more  than  the  indi- 
vidual loses.  As  we  surrender  some  rights  of  liberty  thereby 
to  enjoy  a  more  pei-fect  liberty,  so  we  limit  ourselves  to  sepa- 
rate pursuits,  thereby  to  secure  a  grander  ultimate  result. 
What  each  man  accomplishes  is  not  only  greater  in  quantity, 
but  better  in  quality,  than  he  could  reach  by  the  diiFusion  of 
his  labor.  The  needle  has  a  finer  point,  the  knife  a  sharper 
edge,  the  dwelling  a  nobler  architecture,  the  table  a  richer 
feast,  the  mind  itself  a  more  splendid  array  of  thoughts  and 
science  of  the  wise  ;  while  on  the  part  of  individuals  there  is 
more  ample  time  and  greatly  increased  facilities  for  the  at- 
tainment of  general  intelligence,  than  could  be  produced  on 
any  other  system. 

The  bearing  of  these  thoughts  on  the  subject  before  us  is 
manifest.  This  division  of  labor  constitutes  the  starting-j)oint 
for  the  diverse  training  of  men,  and  modifies  in  part  all  sys- 
tems of  instruction  that  cover  childhood  and  youth.  There 
is,  at  first,  an  education  common  to  all.  The  general  invigor- 
atiou  of  the  intellect,  and  the  preparation  of  the  mind  for  the 
grand,  the  highest  objects  of  life  on  which  I  first  dwelt,  em- 
brace all  the  earliest  years  of  youth.  There  are  elements  of 
power  common  to  all  men,  and  instruments  of  knowledge 
eflFective  for  both  the  general  pursuits  of  a  liberal  education, 
and  the  limited  pursuits  of  physical  toil.  The  education  of 
the  nursery  and  the  school  are  equally  useful  to  all.  But 
when  you  advance  much  beyond  this,  far  enough  to  enable 
the  youth  to  fix  upon  his  probable  line  of  life,  then  the  ne- 
cessity of  an  early  application  to  that  pursuit  at  once  modifies 
his  course  of  education.  For  there  are  some  things  which  are 
peculiarly  desirable  to  some  professions,  that  are  only  matters 
of  general  interest  to  others,  and  not  at  all  necessary  to  com- 
plete success.  The  mathematical  education  of  West  Point, 
with  the  practical  application  of  the  principles  of  that  science 
to  fortification,  gunnery,  surveying,  and  astronomical  calcula- 
tions, is  admirably  adapted  to  fit  men  for  the  work  of  national 
defense  ;  but  it  is  not  so  necessary  to  enable  a  man  to  be  an 
efficient  farmer  or  an  able  lawver.    A  thorough  knowledge  of 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  103 

vegetable  cliemistry  by  the  former  ;  a  careful  training  in  the 
classics,  in  the  abstract  principles  of  mathematics  and  the 
history  and  the  law  of  the  past,  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  will 
much  better  prepare  them  for  their  peculiar  duties  than  the 
science  of  strategy  and  the  art  of  flinging  cannon  balls.  To 
the  physician,  an  acquaintance  with  natural  science,  the  an- 
atomy and  pathology  of  the  human  frame  ;  to  the  clergyman, 
a  mastery  of  the  ancient  languages,  as  those  in  which  the 
word  of  God  was  originally  written,  or  the  gi^andest  produc- 
tions of  the  past  embodied  ;  to  the  merchant,  a  profound 
acquaintance  with  the  laws  of  trade,  the  commerce  of  the 
world,  and  the  laws  which  control  it,  the  products  of  different 
climes  and  the  modes  of  intercommunication,  are  most  appro- 
priate and  necessaiy  to  the  perfection  of  their  professions.  It 
is  in  this  way  that  education,  after  it  has  proceeded  to  some 
extent  on  the  general  idea  first  advanced  of  preparation  for 
all  of  life  both  here  and  hereafter,  begins  to  diverge  sooner  or 
later  in  each  case,  to  meet  the  various  pursuits  of  a  civilized 
society. 

When  then  we  pass  from  these  diverse  professions,  into 
which  the  growth  of  civilized  society  has  divided  men,  to  the 
distinctions  which  exist  between  man  and  woman,  we  enter 
upon  a  still  clearer  department  of  our  subject.  The  differ- 
ences which  are  here  to  give  character  to  education,  are  not 
incidental  and  temporary,  but  inherent  and  commensurate 
with  life  itself.  The  physical  constitution  of  woman  gives 
rise  to  her  peculiar  life.  It  determines  alike  her  position  in 
society  and  her  sphere  of  labor.  In  her  form,  grace  and 
beauty  predominate  over  strength.  The  most  unpracticed 
eye  would  never  confound  the  elements  of  beauty  in  the 
Venus  with  the  signs  of  strength  in  the  Hercules.  Her  form 
addresses  what  may  be  called  a  higher  principle  than  his. 
The  one  speaks  to  our  unsophisticated  sense  of  jDhysical  love- 
liness and  shadows  forth  that  which  is  spiritual ;  the  other 
appeals  to  that  sense  of  fear  by  which  we  appreciate  great 
power.  As  in  her  form  she  declares  that  which  is  most  lovely, 
so  in  her  passionate  nature  she  is  peculiarly  rich  in  sympathy 


104  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES, 

and  tender  emotion.  Affection,  compassion,  sweetness,  pre- 
vail in  her  composition.  Her  heart,  in  its  best  state,  is  the 
wind  lyre  from  which  both  the  breeze  and  the  tempest  extract 
strains  of  ravishing  melody.  In  all  ages  and  climes — cele- 
brated by  travelers,  historians,  poets — she  stands  forth  as  a 
being  of  better  impulses  and  nobler  affections  than  him  of 
whom  she  is  the  complement.  That  which  is  rugged  in  him, 
is  tempered  by  softness  in  her  ;  that  which  is  strong  in  him, 
is  weak  in  her  ;  that  which  is  fierce  in  him,  is  mild  in  her. 
Designed  of  Grod  to  complete  the  cycle  of  human  life,  and 
through  a  twofold  being  present  a  perfect  Adam,  she  is  thus 
no  less  different  from  man  than  essential  to  his  perfection. 
Her  nature  at  once  introduces  her  into  a  peculiar  sphere  of 
action.  Soon  maternal  cares  rest  upon  her  ;  her  throne  is 
above  the  family  circle  ;  her  scepter  of  love  and  authority 
holds  together  the  earliest  and  happiest  elements  of  social 
life.  To  her  come  young  minds  for  sympathy,  for  care,  for 
instruction.  Over  that  most  wonderful  process  of  develop- 
ment, when  a  young  immortal  is  growing  every  day  into  new 
thoughts,  emotions  and  habits  which  are  to  abide  with  it  for 
ever,  she  presides.  By  night  she  watches,  by  day  she  instructs. 
Her  smile  and  her  frown  are  the  two  strongest  powers  on 
earth,  influencing  human  minds  in  the  hour  when  influence 
stamps  itself  upon  the  heart  in  eternal  characters.  It  is  from 
this  point  of  view,  you  behold  the  glorious  purpose  of  that 
attractive  form  embosoming  a  heart  enriched  with  so  copious 
a  treasure  of  all  the  sweetest  elements  of  life.  She  is  destined 
to  fill  a  sphere  of  the  noblest  kind.  In  the  course  of  her  life, 
in  the  training  of  a  household,  her  nature  reveals  an  excellence 
in  its  adaptation  to  the  purpose  for  which  she  is  set  apart, 
that  signally  illustrates  the  wisdom  of  God,  while  it  attracts 
the  homage  of  man.  Scarcely  a  nobler  position  exists  in  this 
world,  than  that  of  a  truly  Christian  mother,  surrounded  by 
children  grown  up  to  maturity  ;  molded  by  her  long  discip- 
line of  instruction  and  affectionate  authority  into  true-hearted, 
intelligent  men  and  women  ;  the  ornaments  of  society,  the 
pillars  of  religion ;  looking  up  to  her  with  a  reverent  affection 


FEMALE     EDUCATION,  105 

that  grows  deeper  with  the  passage  of  time  ,  while  she  quietly 
waits  the  advent  of  death,  in  the  assurance  that,  in  these 
living  representatives,  her  work  will  shine  on  for  ages  on  earth, 
and  her  influence  spread  itself  beyond  the  broadest  calculation 
of  human  reason,  when  she  has  been  gathered  to  the  just. 

How  then  are  we  to  educate  this  being  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels  ;  tliis  being  thus  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  divided  off,  by  the  finger  of  God  writing  it  upon 
her  nature,  to  a  peculiar  and  a  most  noble  office-work  in  so- 
ciety ?  It  is  not  as  a  lawyer,  to  wrangle  in  courts  ;  it  is  not 
as  a  clergyman,  to  preach  in  our  pulpits  ;  it  is  not  as  a  phy- 
sician, to  live  day  and  night  in  the  saddle  and  sick  room  ;  it 
is  not  as  a  soldier  to  go  forth  to  battle  ;  it  is  not  as  a  me- 
chanic, to  lift  the  ponderous  sledge  and  sweat  at  the  burning 
furnace  ;  it  is  not  as  a  farmer,  to  drive  the  team  afield  and 
upturn  the  rich  bosom  of  the  earth.  These  arts  and  toils  of 
manhood,  are  foreign  to  her  gentle  nature,  alien  to  her  feebler 
constitution,  and  inconsistent  with  her  own  high  office  as  the 
mother  and  primary  educator  of  the  race.  If  their  pursuits 
are  jDcrmitted  to  modify  their  education,  so  as  to  prepare 
them  for  a  particular  field  of  labor,  proceeding  upon  the  same 
supi30sition,  it  is  equally  just  and  appropriate,  that  her  train- 
ing should  take  its  complexion  from  the  sphere  of  life  she  is 
destined  to  fill.  So  far  as  it  is  best  education  should  be  spe- 
cific, it  should  have  reference  to  her  perfect  qualification  for 
her  appropriate  work.  This  work  has  two  departments.  The 
first,  which  is  most  limited,  embraces  the  routine  of  house- 
wifery and  the  management  of  the  ordinary  concerns  of  do- 
mestic life.  This  office-work,  important  indeed  in  itself,  and 
essential  to  a  well-educated  woman,  will,  nevertheless,  be 
better  learned  under  the  practical  guidance  of  an  accom- 
plished mother  within  the  precincts  of  home,  than  in  public 
institutions  devoted  to  literature.  I  need  not  speak  of  it  here 
as  an  element  entering  into  the  educational  process  of  this 
institution,  or  modifying  at  all  the  course  of  study  appropri- 
ate for  the  female  mind.  But  the  second  department  of  her 
duties,  as  it  is  the  most  imj)ortant,  so  it  must  be  regarded 


106  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES, 

and  exalted  in  any  gnligliteued  system  of  female  education. 
It  is  as  the  center  of  social  influence  ;  the  genial  power  of 
domestic  life  ;  the  soul  of  refinement  ;  the  clear,  shining  orb, 
beneath  whose  beams  the  germs  of  thought,  feeling  and  habit 
in  young  immortals  are  to  vegetate  and  grow  to  maturity  ; 
the  ennobling  companion  of  man,  his  light  in  darkness,  his 
.joy  in  sorrow,  uniting  her  practical  judgment  with  his  specu- 
lative wisdom,  her  enthusiastic  affection  with  his  colder  na- 
ture, her  delicacy  of  taste  and  sentiment  with  his  boldness, 
and  so  producing  a  happy  mean,  a  whole  character  natural, 
beautiful  and  strong ;  it  is  as  filling  these  high  offices  that 
woman  is  to  be  regarded  and  treated  in  the  attempt  to  edu- 
cate her. 

The  description  of  her  sphere  of  life  at  once  suggests  the 
character  of  her  training.  Whatever  in  science,  literature 
and  art  is  best  adapted  to  prejjare  her  to  fill  this  high  posi- 
tion with  greatest  credit,  and  S23read  farthest  around  it  her 
appropriate  influence,  belongs  of  right  to  her  education.  Her 
intellect  is  to  be  thoroughly  disciplined,  her  judgment  ma- 
tured, her  taste  refined,  her  power  of  connected  and  just 
thought  developed,  and  a  love  for  knowledge  imparted,  so 
that  she  may  possess  the  ability  and  the  desire  for  future  prog- 
ress. To  effect  this  admirable  discipline  of  mind,  it  is  neces- 
sary her  understanding  should  be  exercised  in  the  analysis 
and  mastery  of  various  branches  of  science ;  or  at  least  to 
some  extent  brought  into  communion  with  a  selection  of 
choice  studies  from  the  vast  store-house  of  materials  which 
the  patient  toil  of  the  past  has  gathered.  To  the  finest 
development  of  the  intellect,  a  close  attention  to  several 
branches  of  learning,  necessitating  the  vigorous  exercise  of 
all  the  powers  of  the  mind  in  different  directions,  is  indis- 
pensable. Copiousness,  accuracy  and  power  are  gained  at  the 
cost  of  protracted  study  extended  over  various  subjects.  For 
woman,  therefore,  it  is  allowable  to  exercise  a  generous  eclec- 
ticism in  the  selection  of  the  subjects  for  her  study  ;  and 
from  all  the  branches  of  knowledge  choose  those  which,  not 
being  exclusively  technical  and  professional  in  their  nature, 


I 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  107 

are  such  as  will  most  admirably  strengthen  and  unfold  her 
intellect,  without  cramping  it  down  to  any  single  division  of 
science.  Rising  above  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  men,  she 
should  be  peraiitted  to  select  her  discipline  from  the  entire 
range  of  human  knowledge,  in  accordance  with  the  general 
idea  of  education  which  I  first  advanced.  Her  work  is  gen- 
eral, covering  not  a  particular  trade  or  profession,  but  the 
whole  of  our  earlier  existence  in  its  preparation  for  the  busi- 
ness of  time  and  the  upholding  and  preparation  of  men  in  all 
stages  of  life  for  their  chosen  pursuit.  As  her  work  is  to 
accomplish  a  common  good  for  all,  so  her  discipline  may  be 
general,  preparing  her  most  easily  to  eflPect  this  hajopy  result 
If  then,  in  addition  to  the  elementary  branches  of  a  good 
English  education,  some  attention  to  mathematics  will  in- 
crease the  power  of  abstraction  and  continuous  thought  ;  if 
astronomy,  chemistry,  and  geology,  unfolding  the  nature  of 
the  universe,  will  exalt  her  conceptions  of  her  Creator  and 
give  her  enlarged  views  of  the  world  she  inhabits  as  his  crea- 
ture ;  if  mental  and  moral  philosophy  will  assist  her  to  a 
juster  appreciation  of  her  own  powers,  and  a  more  logical 
analysis  of  her  obligations  to  God  and  man  ;  if  botany  will 
reveal  more  perfectly  the  structure  of  those  beautiful  foi'ms 
painted  by  the  divine  pencil  and  rich  in  suggestions  of  divine 
skill ;  if  music  and  painting  will  furnish  her  a  fine  recreation, 
a  power  of  influence  over  others  at  once  refining  and  delight- 
ful ;  if  the  languages  which  contain  the  varied  literature  of 
France  and  Germany,  will  augment  her  knowledge  of  the 
world,  and  prepare  her  for  intercourse  with  a  larger  circle  of 
mind  in  this  heterogeneous  nation  of  ours  ;  if  the  ancient 
classics,  in  which  dwell  as  grand  and  beautiful  forms  of 
thought  as  mind  uninspired  has  ever  wrought  out,  will  in- 
crease her  power  of  analysis,  correct  a  false  taste,  imj)art 
copiousness,  strength  and  purity  to  her  compositions,  and 
lead  her  into  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the  past  worlds  of  civili- 
zation ;  if  history  will  acquaint  her  with  her  race  and  the 
providence  of  God  toward  it,  poetry  discipline  her  imagi- 
nation, and  composition  concentrate  her  thoughts  and  give 


108  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

ability  freely  to  communicate  them ;  if  to  exercise  her  mind 
in  some  one  or  all  of  these  modes  of  intellectual  discipline, 
will  better  fit  her  for  future  life,  why  shall  it  not  be  per- 
mitted her  to  the  full  extent  of  her  pecuniary  ability,  or 
within  the  limitations  which  the  rapidly  passing  years  of 
youth  prescribe  ?  Who  will  say  that  this  Eefiner  of  the 
world,  this  Minister  of  the  holiest  and  happiest  influences  to 
man,  shall  be  condemned  to  the  scantiest  store  of  intellectual 
preparation  for  an  entertainment  so  large  and  noble  ?  Is  it 
true  that  a  happy  ignorance  is  the  best  qualification  for  a 
woman's  life  ;  that  in  seeking  to  exalt  the  fathers  and  sons, 
we  are  to  begin  by  the  degradation  of  the  mothers  and  daugh- 
ters ?  Is  there  any  thing  in  that  life  incomj^atible  with  the 
noblest  education,  or  which  such  an  education  will  not  en- 
noble and  adorn  ?  We  are  not  seeking  in  all  this  to  make 
of  our  daughters  profound  historians,  poets,  philosophers, 
linguists,  authors.  Success  of  this  high  character  in  these 
pursuits,  is  usually  the  result  of  an  ardent  devotion  for  years 
to  some  one  of  them,  for  which  it  is  rarely  a  female  has  the 
requisite  opportunities.  But  should  they  choose  occasionally 
some  particular  walk  of  literature,  and  by  the  power  of  genius 
vivify  and  adorn  it ;  should  there  be  found  here  and  there 
one  with  an  intense  enthusiasm  for  some  high  pursuit,  com- 
bined with  that  patient  toil  which,  associated  with  a  vigorous 
intellect,  is  the  Avell-spring  of  so  many  glorious  streams  of 
science,  should  not  such  a  result  of  this  enlarged  education  be 
hailed  as  the  sign  of  its  excellence,  and  rejoiced  in  as  the 
proof  of  its  power  ?  The  Mores,  the  Hemanses,  the  De 
Staels,  and  others  among  the  immortal  dead  and  the  living 
who  compose  that  bright  galaxy  of  female  wit  sliining  ever 
refulgent,  have  they  added  nothing  to  human  life,  and  given 
no  quick  upward  impulse  to  the  world  ?  Besides,  that  sys- 
tem of  education  which,  in  occasional  instances,  uniting  with 
a  material  of  peculiar  excellence,  is  sufficient  to  enkindle  an 
orb  whose  light  j)assing  far  beyond  the  circle  of  home,  shall 
shine  upon  a  great  assembly  of  minds,  will  only  be  powerful, 
in  the  multitude  of  cases,  to  impart  that  intellectual  disci- 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  109 

pline,  that  refinement  of  thought,  that  power  of  expression, 
that  sympathy  with  and  taste  for  knowledge,  which  will  best 
prepare  her  for  her  position,  and  enable  her  in  after  life  to 
carry  forward  her  own  improvement  and  that  of  her  associ- 
ated household. 

The  finest  influence  of  such  an  education  is  in  the  devel- 
opment of  a  character  at  once  symmetrical,  refined,  vigorous, 
confident  in  its  own  resources,  yet  penetrated  with  a  con- 
sciousness of  its  distance  from  the  loftiest  heights  of  power  ; 
a  character  which  will  be  an  ennobling  life  in  a  household, 
gently  influencing  others  into  quiet  paths  of  excellence  ;  to 
be  felt  rather  than  seen,  to  be  understood  rather  in  its  results 
than  admired  for  any  manifest  attainments  in  science  ;  an 
intellect  informed,  active,  in  sympathy  with  what  is  known 
and  read  among  men  ;  able  to  bear  its  part  in  healthful  dis- 
cussions, yet  not  presuming  to  dictate  its  opinions  ;  in  the 
presence  of  which  ignorance  becomes  enlightened  and  weak- 
ness strong  ;  creating  around  its  home  an  atmosphere  of  taste 
and  intelligence,  in  which  the  rudest  life  loses  some  of  its  as- 
perity, and  the  roughest  toils  much  of  their  severity.  Such 
is  the  form  of  female  character  we  seek  to  create  by  so  enlarged 
an  education. 

To  some,  it  may  seem  incongruous  to  impart  so  elevated 
an  education  to  those  whose  domestic  duties,  as  the  wives  of 
farmers  and  mechanics,  will  forestall  the  prosecution  of  their 
studies  in  after  life.  The  time  was,  indeed,  when  the  clerk 
and  the  baron  were  the  readers  and  writers,  while  the  peasant 
must  abide  in  his  ignorance.  That  day  is  past.  Labor  is 
rising  to  its  true  nobility ;  or  rather,  I  should  say,  since  labor 
in  itself  hath  neither  meanness  nor  glory,  that  the  immortal 
mind  of  man  is  vindicating  its  right  to  intelligence  ;  and  so, 
whenever  it  struggles  up  into  knowledge,  or  great  mental 
power,  it  crowns  even  physical  toil  with  a  portion  of  its  own 
dignity.  The  way  to  elevate  the  world,  is  to  give  the  young 
mind  a  fair  opportunity  for  development.  Start  it  right,  dis- 
cipline it  well,  before  it  has  to  grapple  with  the  personal  cares 
of  a  family,  and  its  future  will  be  easily  read.     No  style  of 


110  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

business,  no  rudeness  of  toil,  no  pressure  of  domestic  respon- 
sibilities, can  fling  the  soul  back  into  its  original  ignorance, 
or  take  from  it  a  certain  nobility  and  strength  imparted  to  it 
by  such  early  discipline.  Yea,'  m'ore.  than  this  ;  the  female 
mind,  thus  educated,  will  most  probably  ever  after  live  in 
sympathy  with  all  that  is  most  ennobling  in  thought  and 
beautiful  in  nature  ;  gathering  around  her  as  ever  present 
friends,  some  genial  minds  embalmed  in  history,  poetry  and 
philosophy,  with  whom  the  log  cabin  shall  possess  as  true  a 
refinement  as  the  noblest  palace  ;  while  over  her  sons  and 
daughters  she  will  not  fail  to  shed  an  influence  elevating  and 
pure.  To  suppose  that  a  just  education,  well  arranged  in  all 
its  parts,  will  in  any  way  unfit  her  for  the  homely  duties, 
which  in  many  cases  may  belong  to  her  future  life,  is  to  libel 
the  influence  of  intelligence  upon  the  human  mind.  The  as- 
sociation of  meanness  with  toil,  of  degradation  with  physical 
labor,  is  not  the  growth  of  an  enlightened  education,  but  of  a 
barbarous  age  and  slavish  institutions.  Whenever  the  lead- 
ing idea  of  this  discourse — the  duty  of  every  human  being  to 
be  as  thoroughly  educated  as  his  opportunities  will  permit — 
penetrates  the  community,  then  dignity  and  honor  are  trans- 
ferred from  supei^ficial  and  transient  qualities  to  the  mind  and 
heart.  Let  these  be  cultivated,  and  their  possessor  rises  to 
the  dignity  of  a  prince,  whatever  may  be  his  occupation.  It 
is  not  the  trade  or  work  that  gives  or  takes  away  honor,  but 
the  character  of  the  man  himself  that  consecrates  or  defiles 
whatever  he  touches.  What  were  Franklin,  Sherman,  Whit- 
ney ?  Printers  !  shoemakers  !  machinists  !  A  host  of  such 
minds  at  this  hour  have  risen  over  the  world,  and  are  pouring 
their  light  into  the  dark  corners  thereof.  The  man  who  has 
wrought  his  eight  hours  a  day  at  the  anvil,  will  work  eight 
more  at  the  burning  forge  of  thought,  and  fling  his  masses  of 
truth  red  hot  iipon  the  mind  of  his  countrymen.  Has  learn- 
ing taught  him  to  despise  his  vocation  ;  or  has  it  not  ennobled 
it  ?  An  ignorant  and  an  evil-hearted  man  has  all  the  ele- 
ments of  meanness,  place  him  where  you  will.  Station  can 
neither  exalt  or  degrade  him.      But  an  intelligent,  right- 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  Ill 

hearted  man  has  all  the  elements  of  a  dignity  that  will  adorn 
a  lofty  station  and  elevate  that  which  is  low.  No  loell  edu- 
cated woman  will  ever  think  it  beneath  her  to  perform  all 
those  domestic  offices  which  are  essential  to  the  comfort,  the 
health  and  the  prosperity  of  her  family.  She  will  glory  in 
doing  all  things  well,  and  shed  around  the  most  homely  toils 
the  elevation  and  charm  of  a  polished,  thoughtful  intellect 
and  pure  heart.  Such  is  the  training  we  seek  for  the  female 
mind. 

The  closing  topic  of  this  address  will  vindicate  its  own 
preeminent  importance.  The  education  of  the  heart  reaches 
deeper,  and  spreads  its  influence  farther,  than  all  things  else. 
The  intellect  is  only  a  beautiful  piece  of  mechanism,  until 
the  affections  pour  into  it  their  tremendous  vitality,  and  send 
it  forth  in  all  directions  instinct  with  power.  When  the 
"  dry-light"  of  the  understanding  is  penetrated  by  the  liquid 
light  of  the  emotions,  it  becomes  both  light  and  heat,  power- 
ful to  vivify,  quicken,  and  move  all  things.  In  woman,  the 
scepter  of  her  chief  power  springs  from  the  affections.  En- 
dowed most  richly  with  sensibility — with  all  the  life  of  varied 
and  vigorous  impulse  and  deep  affection,  she  needs  to  have 
early  inwrought,  through  a  powerful  self-discipline,  an  entire 
command  of  her  mobile  nature.  There  are  few  more  incon- 
gruous and  sadly  affecting  things  than  a  woman  of  fine  intel- 
lect and  strong  passions,  without  self-control  or  true  religious 
feeling.  She  is  like  a  ship  whose  rudder  is  unhung  ;  she  is 
like  a  horse,  rapid,  high-spirited,  untamed  to  the  bridle  ;  or 
higher  still,  she  is  like  a  cherub  fallen  from  its  sphere  of  glory, 
with  no  attending  seraph,  without  law,  without  the  control 
of  love,  whose  course  no  intelligence  can  anticipate  and  no 
vvdsdom  guide.  Keligion  seems  to  have  in  woman  its  most 
appropriate  home.  To  her  are  appointed  many  hours  of  pain, 
of  trial,  of  silent  communion  with  her  own  thoughts.  Sepa- 
rated, if  she  act  the  true  woman,  from  many  of  the  stirring 
scenes  in  which  man  mingles,  she  is  admirably  situated  to 
nourish  a  life  of  love  and  faith  within  the  circle  of  her  own 
home.     Debarred  from  the  pursuits  which  furnish  so  quick- 


112  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

ening  an  excitement  to  the  other  sex,  she  either  is  confined  to 
the  r(jutine  of  domestic  life  and  the  quiet  society  of  a  social 
circle,  O]-  devotes  herself  to  those  frivolous  pleasures  which 
enervate  while  they  excite,  which,  like  the  inspiration  of  the 
wine-cup,  are  transient  in' their  joy,  but  deep  and  lasting  in 
their  evil.  But  when  Eeligion  enters  her  heart  it  opens  a  new 
and  that  the  grandest  array  of  objects.  It  imparts  a  new 
element  of  thought,  a  wonderful  depth  and  earnestness  of 
character.  It  elevates  before  her  an  ennobling  object,  and 
enlists  her  fine  sensibilities,  emotions  and  affections  in  its 
pursuit.  Coming  thus  through  religion  into  harmony  with 
Grod,  she  ascends  to  the  highest  position  a  woman  can  occupy 
in  this  world. 

As  religion  itself  should  be  limited  to  no  one  period,  so 
the  discij)line  of  the  heart  should  be  commensurate  with  life 
itself  Beginning  with  the  opening  aifections  of  childhood, 
it  should  kindly  press  upon  the  soul  all  through  its  earthly 
career.  No  system  of  education  begins  to  approach  com- 
jileteness,  or  is  even  tolerable,  that  excludes  religious  influ- 
ences and  educates  the  individual  for  this  world  alone.  Ne- 
glecting the  grandest  jiart  of  man,  on  which  the  image  of  his 
Creator  is  most  visibly  impressed,  and  by  which  his  destiny 
for  eternity  is  to  be  affected,  it  resembles  a  system  of  astron- 
omy with  the  sun,  moon  and  planets  omitted  ;  a  system  of 
geography  without  the  continents,  and  of  anatomy  deprived 
of  the  skull  and  vertebra.  In  this  country,  one  of  oiu'  dan- 
gers lies  in  this  direction.  Our  liberality  in  the  indulgence 
of  all  religious  opinions  sometimes  degenerates  into  the  prac- 
tical neglect  of  all  religious  influences  in  the  education  of 
youth.  To  purge  off  the  taint  of  sectarianism  and  hush  the 
anathema  of  infidelity,  the  Bible,  prayer,  and  the  holiest  in- 
fluence of  divine  religion,  are  not  unfrequently  surrendered. 
A  mistake  more  fatal  to  all  true  elevation  of  character,  a 
practical  error  more  pernicious  to  the  highest  interests  of  the 
State,-  it  were  difficult  to  conceive.  The  ultimate  basis  of  all 
things  most  stable  and  excellent  in  society  is  religious  prin- 
ciple and  the  habits  to  which  it  gives  rise.     Take  these  away, 


FEMALE     EDUCATION,  113 

and  the  foundation  for  the  abutments  on  which  rests  the 
great  arch  of  the  finest  civil  and  social  state  is  removed.  But 
to  secure  this  deep  and  broad  foundation  for  the  future,  it  is 
indispensable  that  religion  should  enter  the  heart  and  truth 
enthrone  itself  in  the  intellect,  when  in  childhood  and  youth 
those  habits  of  thought  and  feeling  are  formed  which  are  to 
remain  for  ever.  At  this  period,  a  happy  religious  discipline, 
instruction  in  the  word  of  God  and  the  great  duties  of  life, 
are  the  right  of  every  child,  which  neither  parents  nor  teach- 
ers can  fail  to  impart  without  a  grievous,  because  an  immor- 
tal wrong.  Above  all,  in  such  an  institution  as  this,  should 
religion,  free  from  the  narrowness  of  sect,  proceeding  on  those 
grand  truths  which  form  the  basis  of  our  responsibility  for 
this  world  and  the  next,  shed  a  genial  influence  over  those 
who  here  pursue  the  path  of  science. 

To  woman  should  Christianity  be  especially  dear.  It  has 
led  her  out  of  the  house  of  bondage  ;  it  has  lifted  her  from 
the  stool  of  the  servant  to  an  equality  with  the  master  ;  it 
has  exalted  her  from  the  position  of  a  mere  minister  of  sen- 
sual pleasure,  the  toy  of  a  civilized  paganism,  to  a  full  com- 
panionship with  man  ;  it  has  given  her  soul — once  spurned, 
degraded,  its  immortality  doubted,  its  glory  eclipsed — a  price- 
less value ;  and  shed  around  her  whole  character  the  ladiance 
of  heaven.  Let  pure  religion  create  the  atmosphere  around 
a  woman's  spirit,  and  breathe  its  life  into  her  heart ;  let  it 
refine  her  aifections,  sanctify  her  intellect,  elevate  her  aims, 
and  hallow  her  physical  beauty  ;  let  it  mold  her  early  char- 
acter by  its  rich  influences,  and  cause  the  love  of  Jehovah  to 
c(msecrate  all  earthly  love,  and  she  is  indeed  to  our  race,  of 
all  the  gifts  of  time,  the  last  and  best,  the  crown  of  our  glory, 
the  perfection  of  our  life. 

It  is  with  such  objects  in  view,  this  institution  has  been 
established.  Its  great  design  is  to  impart  to  all  who  may 
attend  upon  its  exercises,  according  to  the  time  they  shall 
devote  to  it,  a  thorough,  elevated.  Christian  education  ;  a 
discipline  for  the  body,  mind  and  heart,  most  appropriate  to 
that  high  position  which  woman  is  to  occupy  and  adorn.     To 


114  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

effect  this  purpose,  while  the  advantages  of  this  institution 
are  open  to  all  who  may  choose  to  avail  themselves  of  them 
for  even  a  brief  period,  }'et  it  is  especially  designed  to  afford 
those  who  are  willing  to  spend  the  time  requisite  for  the 
attainment  of  the  object,  a  course  of  study  os  full  and  com- 
plete, an  education  as  thorough,  comprehensive,  liberal  and 
elevated,  as  the  best  institutions  at  the  East  can  bestow.  It 
is  not  to  be  questioned  that  we  need  and  that  we  are  ripe  for 
institutions  of  this  character.  It  is  high  time  that  the  West 
should  not  only  train  its  own  daughters,  but  enjoy  educational 
advantages  large  enough  to  place  us  on  a  level  with  any  other 
section  of  our  country.  We  wish  to  rear  up  institutions  of 
such  an  elevated  character  as  will  make  a  western  in  all  re- 
spects equal  to  an  eastern  education.  We  wish  to  build  up 
an  institution  here,  and  to  see  others  rising  in  other  parts  of 
this  country,  which,  while  they  will  abundantly  impart  all 
those  outward  accomplishments  in  which  the  seminaries  of 
Papists  have  been  supposed  to  excel,  will  also  afford  an  edu- 
cation such  as,  in  its  discipline,  elevation  and  results,  their 
narrow  system  of  instruction  can  not  at  all  reach.  We  wish, 
in  short,  to  make  this  seminary  a  model  institution  of  female 
education,  to  which  our  daughters  from  all  parts  of  this  land 
shall  resort,  as  the  chosen  home  of  all  that  is  best  adapted  to 
enlarge  the  mind,  purify  the  heart,  polish  the  manners,  and 
prepare  them  for  the  large  sphere  of  their  duties.  At  great 
expense  these  buildings  have  been  reared  ;  a  large  and  com- 
petent band  of  instructors  are  engaged  to  carry  out  the  great 
purposes  of  such  an  institution.  At  their  head  is  a  gentleman 
who  for  many  years  has  devoted  himself  with  signal  success 
to  the  work  of  instruction.  In  addition  to  these  advantages, 
the  location  of  this  institution  is  preeminently  adapted  to 
make  it  most  useful.  In  near  proximity  to  the  largest  city 
of  the  West,  yet  so  secluded  from  its  noise,  dust,  smoke  and 
artificial  excitements  as  to  furnish  that  solitude  which  is  most 
necessary  to  the  formation  of  profound  habits  of  reflection  ; 
in  the  midst  of  one  of  the  wealthiest,  healthiest  and  most 
populous  regions  of  the  State  ;  crowning  the  summit  of  these 


J 


FEMALE     EDUCATION.  115 

pleasant  hills,  from  which  you  look  down  upon  a  busy  world 
wholly  separated  from  you  ;  on  a  spot  set  apart  by  the  pres- 
ence of  a  kindred  institution  to  study,  to  reflection,  to  im- 
provement, it  would  seem  as  if  here  were  collected  all  the 
materials  necessary  to  constitute  the  finest  position  for  the 
healthful  development  of  the  female  mind.  The  single  cir- 
cumstance of  its  situation  in  the  country  is  not  of  small 
moment.  The  country  !  What  associations  of  peace  and 
quietude,  of  communion  with  nature  in  her  most  innocent 
and  ennobling  forms,  cluster  about  that  word  !  The  coun- 
try !  the  nurse  of  great  men  and  noble  women  ;  the  mother 
of  the  mass  of  those  who  in  church  and  state,  by  the  fireside 
and  in  the  counting-room,  have  been  most  distinguished  for 
independence,  for  acuteness  and  true  nobility  of  life.  The 
city  abounds  ^vith  so  many  objects  of  attraction  and  distrac- 
tion ;  with  so  many  frivolous  and  superficial  excitements, 
that  it  is  the  most  unsuitable  place  in  the  world  for  the 
formation  of  an  independent,  vigorous,  profound  and  lofty 
character.  The  mind  of  childhood  becomes  developed  into  a 
premature  smartness  ;  in  attaining  a  superficial  activity,  it 
seems  to  lose  the  jjower  of  reaching  deep,  accurate  and  origi- 
nal tho&ght.  Far  better  is  it  to  nurse  the  intellect  and  the 
heart  where  the  trees  lift  their  enormous  tops  heavenward, 
and  the  wind  makes  its  own  free  music  among  their  branches  ; 
where  the  fields  spread  out  their  verdant  bosoms,  and  hill  and 
vale  proclaim  the  handiwork  of  the  Lord  most  high.  Here, 
when  spring  has  carpeted  the  earth  and  clothed  the  trees,  and 
flowers  grow  spontaneously  under  the  care  of  the  great  gar- 
dener of  the  universe,  will  our  youth  go  forth  to  enjoy  the 
presence  of  God  in  his  most  glorious  works.  Here,  when 
autumn's  leaves  strew  the  earth  and  winter  winds  wail 
through  these  forests,  will  they  learn  to  turn  their  thoughts 
within,  and  cherish  those  habits  of  thought  and  reflection  in 
sympathy  with  a  life  so  full  of  mutations  and  limited  to  our 
eyes  by  the  grave.  Here,  for  many  years  to  come,  may  the 
mothers  and  the  educators  of  generations  of  noble  American 
youth,  listen  to  lessons  of  wisdom  and  prepare  for  their  high 


116  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

destiny.  Here,  may  there  be  set  forth  a  system  of  education 
befitting  the  free,  bold,  manly  intellect  of  this  new  world ; 
by  which  the  daughters  of  Christian  freemen  may  form  their 
hearts  and  minds  to  a  style  of  character  as  noble,  elevated 
and  original  as  the  circumstances  of  their  country  are  exalted 
and  unique  in  the  world's  history.  When  those  who  to-day 
set  apart  this  structure  to  these  high  purposes  shall  have 
been  gathered  to  the  just ;  when  the  city,  whose  busy  hum 
now  rises  on  the  still  morning  air,  shall  have  swollen  to  its 
million  of  inhabitants  ;  and  the  State  to  half  as  many  as  this 
entire  Union  now  contains ;  and  the  multitudes  that  now 
move  upon  its  surface  are  all  sleeping  in  the  tomb,  then  may 
this  institution  still  flourish,  enlarged,  advancing  to  meet  and 
lead  on  advancing  humanity,  educating  future  generations  for 
the  noble  sphere  of  woman's  life  here,  and  the  sublime  destiny 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  hereafter. 


lY. 

THE    THREE    STAGES     OF    EDUCATION.* 

It  was  the  request  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  this  Semi- 
nary, that  I  should  address  you  on  this  occasion,  last  year. 
For  that  engagement  preparation  had  been  made,  when  the 
providence  of  Grod  prevented  its  fulfillment.  A  disease  whose 
advent  and  departure  were  alike  robed  in  mystery,  in  its 
second  journey  around  the  globe,  had  reached  our  shores. 
Unheralded,  it  entered  our  towns  and  cities  ;  its  invisible 
breath  prostrated  thousands  ;  its  awful  presence,  felt  rather 
than  seen,  or  seen  only  in  the  terrible  results  of  its  power, 
spread  the  gloom  of  the  grave-yard  and  the  stillness  of  the 
Sabbath  through  our  streets.  The  thronged  marts  of  trade 
were  solitary,  the  arm  of  industry  was  paralyzed,  the  ham- 
mer rang  faintly  on  the  anvil,  the  hum  of  untiring  labor  died 
away,  the  streams  of  life  that  rushed  through  our  avenues 
gave  place  to  the  solitary  tread  of  the  physician,  the  rattling 
of  the  hearse,  and  the  slow-moving  procession  of  mourners. 
The  teacher  dismissed  his  scholars  to  their  homes  ;  the  father 
gathered  his  family  about  him  to  wait  together  the  issue  ;  the 
pastor  knew  no  rest  while  he  ministered  to  the  dying — per- 
fonned  the  rites  of  sepulcher  for  the  dead,  and  sought  to  com- 
fort the  living.  In  the  midst  of  such  a  calamity,  it  neither 
became  me  to  forsake  my  post  for  a  day  to  fulfill  my  engage- 
ment in  this  city,  nor  was  it  possible  for  you  to  engage  in  the 
usual  celebration  of  this  anniversary.  The  address  originally 
prepared  for  you,  was  subsequently  delivered  in  another  place 
and  committed  to  the  press.     It  would  not  be  proper  for  me 

*  An  address  delivered  at  the  anniversary  of  the  Cooper  Female  Academy, 
July  17,  1850. 


118  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

now  to  repeat  that  discussion  or  follow  out  substantially  tlie 
same  train  of  thouglit.  But  there  was  a  division  of  the  gen- 
eral subject  on  which  I  then  was  unable  to  dwell,  that  it  is 
proposed  to  discuss  on  this  occasion.  In  doing  this,  I  may 
have  occasion  to  speak  more  of  the  subjects  of  Education  than 
of  the  theory.  In  this  there  is  one  advantage.  The  theory 
of  Education  is  old  ;  it  has  often  been  developed  by  minds  of 
the  largest  power  in  every  age.  But  the  subjects  of  Educa- 
tion are  always  new,  fresh,  rosy,  joyous.  They  are  always 
young.  Generation  succeeds  generation,  or  rather,  the  wave 
of  life  behind  melts  into  that  before  so  impercejjtibly  that  you 
can  not  mark  the  point  of  passage  ;  the  new  wave  follows  on, 
until  ere  it  has  dashed  upon  the  shore,  a  hundred  others  have 
lifted  their  crests  in  pursuit.  So  childhood,  ere  it  has  grown 
to  manhood  or  old  age,  beholds  other  childhoods,  fresh  and 
bright,  chasing  it  onward.  There  is  no  stay,  no  growing  old 
here.  The  laughing  girl  and  careless  boy  are  always  in  the 
foreground  of  life.  Their  merry  voices,  their  light  footsteps, 
their  sunny  brows  are  always  new.  Manhood  looks  back 
upon  them  with  pride  ;  old  age  grows  young  in  their  pres- 
ence. They  melt  the  frost  from  the  heart ;  they  unbind  the 
cords  of  etiquette  ;  they  ungird  the  robe  of  artificial  life  ; 
they  bring  us  back  to  our  original  simplicity.  Nature  asserts 
through  them  her  right  in  us.  We  wish  we  were  boys  and 
girls  again  ;  we  would  play  ball  in  the  same  green  ;  skate  on 
the  same  pond  ;  gather  nuts  in  the  same  woods  ;  rush  from 
the  old  school  house  with  the  same  wild,  uproarious  merri- 
ment ;  we  would  believe  in  quaint  old  Santa  Claus  again, 
and  dream  of  his  treasures,  and  hang  our  stockings  before  the 
wide-mouthed  kitchen  fire  place  in  kindness  to  his  yellow 
Christmas  coat ;  we  would  put  our  faith  in  Jack  the  giant 
killer,  with  his  wondrous  bean-pole,  and  seven-leagued  boots 
and  all  the  exhaustless  treasures  which  our  imaginations  once 
discovered  in  the  golden  castles  of  our  boyhood,  if  it  were  but 
for  an  hour.  Refreshing  it  is  to  our  hearts,  disgusted  with 
the  artificial  forms,  and  cold  selfishness  of  society,  to  meet 
the  blessed  creduhty  of  the  child,  and  the  vigorous  hope  of 


THE     THREE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.        119 

youtli ;  to  watch  the  young  blood  quicken  in  their  veins  and 
see  the  overflow  of  life,  too  soon  to  be  confined  within  narrow 
conventionalities,  and  finally  sink  away  into  nerveless  and 
trembling  age. 

Shakespeare  divides  life  into  seven  ages.  Of  these,  three 
belong  to  Education,  considered  with  respect  to  this  life. 
These  ages  in  which  the  young  life  prepares  for  its  work,  are 
designated  by  the  nursery,  the  school,  and  society.  Allowing 
from  twenty-four  to  thirty  years  as  the  period  within  which 
most  persons  attain  a  fully  developed  character,  from  eight  to 
ten  years  may  be  assigned  to  each  one  of  these  ages.  The  first 
has  its  chief  influence  from  the  nursery  ;  the  second  from  the 
school ;  the  third  from  society.    Let  us  first  visit  the  nursery. 

Babyhood  and  childhood,  what  are  they  but  instinct  and 
animal  propensity  ?  What  have  they  to  do  with  intelligent 
Education  ?  Much  every  way.  They  are  wonderful  absorb- 
ents of  knowledge  ;  they  gain  more  intelligence  than  the 
other  ages  can  bestow,  and  hold  it  much  longer  than  that 
acquired  subsequently.  That  infant,  outwardly  all  animal, 
is  a  most  diligent  student.  Smile  upon  it,  and  see  its  soul 
smiling  in  return  ;  frown,  and  lo  !  the  eyes  redden  with  tears. 
The  babe  is  a  student  of  physiognomy,  and  through  that  of 
the  human  spirit.  Its  mother's  countenance  is  its  first  sun 
of  science.  Here  all  knowledge  is  centered.  It  entertains  the 
profound  idea  of  another  spirit  responsive  to  its  own,  months 
and  even  years  before  it  can  express  such  an  idea  in  fitting 
language.  Witness  now  its  growth  !  It  studies  language. 
It  masters  the  elements  of  articulate  sound  ;  it  lisps  the  two 
simplest,  dearest  of  words ;  instinctively  it  imitates  human 
speech  ;  the  tongue  grows  lithe,  the  organs  of  voice  are  grad- 
ually trained  to  their  work,  till  at  length  it  has  acquired  the 
wonderful  faculty  of  speech.  In  less  than  two  years  it  has 
made  larger  advances  in  the  acquisition  of  intelligent  power, 
than  the  noblest  brute  ever  did  in  all  its  life.  It  has  begun, 
also,  the  study  of  physics,  gymnastics,  philosophy  and  morals. 
It  begins  to  calculate  distances ;  for  the  appreciation  of  dis- 
tance is  a  matter  of  judgment.     To  the  eye  opened  to  sight 


120  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

from  a  congenital  blindness,  all  things  seem  alike  near.  The 
child  studies  the  qualities  of  things.  The  difference  between 
a  fall  on  a  carpet  or  a  stone  reveals  the  soft  and  the  hard.  By 
sundry  infallible  experiments,  it  solves  that  great  problem  in 
philosophy,  viz  :  that  fire  will  burn ;  understands  its  qualities 
after  the  first  burned  finger,  as  well  as  Liebig  himself,  and 
never  forgets  them.  It  investigates  the  operation  of  the 
gases,  particularly  hydrogen  and  oxygen  when  combined  as 
water,  and  is  as  fully  convinced  of  their  power  to  produce 
suffocation,  the  first  time  the  head  is  fairly  dipped  under,  as 
Sir  Humphrey  Davy  could  be.  Gravitation  it  investigates  in 
various  ways  ;  but  the  great  experiment  which  most  effectu- 
ally determines  the  question,  is  a  tumble  down  stairs.  Grym- 
nastics  very  early  claim  attention.  Legs  and  arms  let  off  the 
superfluous  activity  months  before  the  infant  stands  upright 
What  a  proud  day  was  that,  parent,  when  your  first-bora 
began  to  walk  ?  to  tread  the  earth  no  longer  a  feeble  infant, 
but  a  self-sustaining,  well-balanced  little  humanity  !  How 
many  trials  in  balancing  !  how  many  experiments  preceded 
this  feat,  more  magnificent  than  the  most  skillful  exercises  of 
the  rope  dancer ! 

At  length  this  young  walker  and  talker  becomes  a  thinker 
He  questions  every  one  ;  he  pries  into  every  thing.  His 
"  why  ?"  "  why  T'  shows  that  he  is  as  intent  upon  studying 
causation  as  were  ever  Hume  or  Brown.  He  hears  every 
thing  uttered  ;  he  ponders  many  a  mystery  that  manhood 
can  not  unfold.  The  whole  of  nature  solicits  his  attention  ; 
his  young  intellect  labors  to  get  beneath  the  surface.  Soon 
he  experiments  in  various  directions.  He  digs  and  plants, 
and  then  pulls  up  the  germs  to  see  liow  they  grow.  He  turns 
mechanic,  constructs,  demolishes  and  rebuilds  at  pleasure. 
Again  he  studies  engineering,  momentum,  and  curves  ;  and 
the  best  way  to  drive  his  arrow  at  the  mark  or  his  ball  at  his 
brother's  back.  He  fashions  his  kite,  sends  it  afloat,  gaining 
a  practical  acquaintance  with  the  resolution  of  forces,  accom- 
plishing a  feat  for  him  as  great  as  that  of  Franklin,  when 
by  a  similar  contrivance,  he  brought  the  lightning  from  the 


THE     THREE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.         121 

clouds.  Thus  day  by  day,  this  restless  spirit  pushes  itself 
out  into  the  world  of  nature,  gaining  for  the  mind  knowledge, 
for  the  hand  skill,  for  the  body  vigor. 

Meanwhile  in  the  house  another  and  higher  style  of  Edu- 
cation is  going  on.  He  is  beginning  to  understand  the  ideas 
of  authority,  of  right,  of  truth,  of  generosity,  of  benevolence, 
of  self-restraint,  of  manliness,  of  purity,  of  holiness,  of  God. 
For  the  outward  and  physical  is  only  secondary  ;  that  which 
is  moral  and  religious  is  primary.  The  first  constitutes  the 
form,  the  dress  of  life,  mere  external  civilization  ;  the  second, 
the  inward  accomplishments  of  a  soul  with  reference  to  eter- 
nity. Here  then  in  these  first  ten  years  of  his  existence,  a 
great  part  of  the  work  in  both  departments  must  be  effected. 
Moral  influences  mold  the  child  day  by  day.  As  thought 
awakens,  the  passions  kindle  and  the  will  gi'ows  strong,  the 
l^arent  watches,  controls,  indulges,  limits,  directs.  Habit  be- 
gins its  lifelong  reign.  Impressions  grave  themselves  upon 
the  heart ;  prejudices  possess  the  intellect ;  disposition  un- 
folds, and  the  child  takes  the  direction  which  manhood  is  to 
pursue.  Between  the  child  on  the  one  hand,  his  parents,  the 
family  and  the  natural  world  on  the  other,  there  is  at  work, 
a  silent,  steady,  unintermitted  process  of  action  and  reaction. 
The  inherent  activity  of  the  child,  his  exuberant  energy, 
pushes  him  forward  against  everybody  and  every  thing.  Mind, 
affections,  body,  are  all  intensely  vigorous.  You  wonder  how 
such  unceasing  activity  can  be  found  in  so  small  a  compass. 
You  have  heard  of  experiments  in  perpetual  motion,  but  now 
you  see  it  without  an  experiment,  to  your  perfect  satisfaction. 
You  are  astonished  at  the  style  in  which  the  youngster  will 
labor  to  effect  a  cherished  purpose  ;  the  arguments,  the  prom- 
ises, the  tears  brought  to  bear  upon  your  opposite  determina- 
tion. The  perverse  activities  of  his  growing  spirit  keep  you 
ever  on  the  look  out.  You  seize  hold  of  one  and  rein  it  in, 
when  lo  !  another  has  pushed  forth  in  a  different  direction. 
The  guide  of  a  child  in  this  nursery  age  must  be  all  eye,  all 
ear,  all  hand,  all  thought,  all  love,  all  devotion  and  all  pa- 
tience.   This  is  peculiarly  the  season  of  spontaneous  activity. 


122  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

It  is  the  luxury  of  new  life  and  vigorous  health.  It  is  the 
age  of  knowledge  acquired  without  application ;  of  acquisi- 
tion without  conscious  effort ;  when  the  external  world  is  a 
novelty  ;  when  moral  ideas  are  novel ;  when,  like  the  forms 
in  a  kaleidoscope,  the  earth  daily  assumes  some  new  shape  of 
beauty  to  attract  the  young  soul  to  itself.  At  this  period  the 
foundations  are  laid.  In  this  spontaneous  action,  while  as 
yet  all  is  unformed  in  the  expanding  soul,  the  outlines  of 
character  are  traced ;  the  direction  and  general  form  is  given, 
which  can  never  be  wliolly  changed  ;  which  can  be  par- 
tially modified  only  with  great  difficulty.  It  is  within  this 
j)eriod,  the  parent's  chief  work  in  Education  should  be  per- 
formed. 

Into  this  work  two  things  enter.     The  one  is  direct  guid- 
ance, instruction  and  restraint ;  the  other  the  silent  influences 
and  attractions  of  personal  character.     The  graj)e  vine  in 
spring  pushes  forth  its  branches  with  great  vigor  in  all  direc- 
tions.    These  for  a  time  must  receive  support,  direction  and 
occasional  pruning.   Left  to  swing  in  the  wind  or  twine  them- 
selves round  whatever  they  may  be  near,  is  to  expose  them 
to  ruin  or  greatly  injure  their  productiveness.     The  place  of 
every  branch  should  be  fixed  long  before  it  has  grown  into  it. 
So  the  young  spirit  in  the  wild  exuberance  of  its  growth,  de- 
mands the  sustaining  judgment  and  correcting  hand  of  a 
parent.    Its  place  should  be  fixed  ;  whatever  is  evil  controlled 
or  removed,  and  right  habits  formed  long  before  it  attains 
maturity.     For  after  it  leaves  the  parent,  it  must  pass  into 
the  hands  of  another  husbandman,  whose  restraints  and  cor- 
rections may  be  severe  and  terrible.     The  young  vine,  how- 
ever, must  have  more  than  guidance,  support  and  restraint. 
The  sun  must  shine  upon  it.     In  the  shade,  in  darkness,  it 
grows  rapidly  but  feebly.    Its  joints  are  long  ;  its  body  thin  ; 
its  fruitbearing  powers  are  almost  wholly  destroyed.     The 
wann  sun  totally  changes  its  character  ;  condenses  its  juices, 
retards  its  outward  growth ;  enlarges  its  fruitbuds,  and  invig- 
orates it  for  the  work  of  presenting  to  the  vine-dresser  a  lus- 
cious and  abundant  crop.     Now  the  silent  influences  of  pa- 


THE     THKEE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.        123 

rental  character  in  the  nursery  are  to  young  souls  what  the 
rays  of  the  sun  are  to  the  young  vine.  They  rest  upon  them 
quietly ;  they  act  steadily  and  without  interruption ;  they 
excite  no  opposition  and  can  receive  none  ;  they  insinuate 
themselves  so  like  the  light,  into  the  heart  of  the  young,  that 
without  understanding  it  the  children  are  gradually  molded 
and  affected  thereby.  Good  principles,  the  seed  of  future 
power  ;  good  habits,  the  form  of  future  developments  ;  good 
dispositions,  the  elements  of  after  fruitfulness  ;  a  secret  force 
of  self-command  and  moral  heroism,  a  strength  of  will  for  the 
right  and  powerlessness  for  the  wrong  ;  a  love  of  truth  and 
integrity  of  spirit ;  the  recognition  of  authority  and  the  habit 
of  obedience  to  the  iafinite  ;  all  these,  which  in  their  ripeness 
constitute  the  noblest  character,  are  foimed  and  strengthened 
in  the  heart  and  mind  mainly  by  the  influences  of  parental 
teaching  and  exam/ple.  The  parents  are  the  sun  to  the  young 
heart.  For  a  time  they  stand  to  it  in  the  place  of  God. 
Through  them  heaven  pours  its  earliest  and  selectest  influ- 
ences upon  the  spirit.  The  beaming  countenance,  the  tone 
of  voice,  the  manner,  the  whole  of  a  parent's  life  then  affects 
it  deeply.  The  mother  is  transparent  to  the  child,  long  be- 
fore the  latter  is  to  the  former.  The  one  is  a  great  recipient ; 
the  other  a  great  communicant.  The  one  is  to  be  fashioned 
and  is  therefore  sensible  to  the  least  breath  of  influence  ;  the 
other  already  fashioned  is  giving  forth  the  plastic  power. 
Thus  if  the  parent  be  a  true  sun  of  pure  and  living  light,  the 
child  will  generally  develop  a  character  which,  so  far  as  hu- 
man culture  can  effect  it,  will  be  prepared  for  the  further 
work  of  education  and  of  life.  Such  is  the  first  age.  The 
work  of  the  nursery  is  the  foundation  of  all  the  future,  the 
most  difficult  and  important,  demanding  the  finest  powers 
and  issuing  in  the  noblest  results.  No  after  training  can  fully 
correct  a  vicious  nursery  education.  The  form  is  given,  that 
in  the  main  is  to  last  for  ever.  A  noble  work  this  ;  worthy 
the  noblest  beings  and  the  noblest  powers,  to  preside  over  the 
formation  of  the  character  of  a  soul  and  make  impressions 
that  are  not  only  to  abide  themselves,  but  which  in  long  un- 


124  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

folding  series  are  to  produce  fruits  in  others — fruits  equally- 
excellent  and  abiding. 

Let  us  advance  now  to  the  second  age  of  education — the 
School.  The  chief  work  of  childhood  has  been  accomplished  ; 
but  however  essential  it  is  yet  imperfect,  however  lasting  it 
is  only  the  foundation  for  the  superstructure.  As  yet  all  the 
knowledge  is  elementary.  The  mind  in  its  excursions  has 
taken  note  only  of  external  things  ;  it  has  mastered  that 
which  is  most  necessary  to  its  physical  and  moral  well-being, 
but  it  is  far  from  that  complete  preparation  which  the  busi- 
ness of  life  demands.  It  has  gained  a  superficial  acquaintance 
w^ith  external  nature  ;  but  so  has  the  savage.  It  has  gained 
the  elements  of  religious  knowledge  ;  but  were  it  to  remain 
in  that  condition,  limited  to  those  elements,  it  would  remain 
a  child  for  ever.  It  has  now  to  go  beyond  the  surface  and 
learn  the  secret  composition  and  relations  of  natural  objects. 
The  idea  of  authority,  obligation,  obedience,  has  been  wrought 
into  the  soul ;  it  has  now  to  learn  what  constitutes  the  tine 
foundation  of  authority,  what  is  the  extent  of  obligation  and 
the  bounds  of  obedience  due  different  authorities.  Ignorant 
on  these  subjects,  the  individual  becomes  the  slave  of  preju- 
dice ;  obeying  where  there  is  no  just  authority  to  command, 
disobeying  where  all  the  elements  of  authority  exist.  Ignor- 
ant of  the  physical  world  in  its  secret  powers,  he  is  unpre- 
pared to  take  advantage  of  and  combine  them  so  as  to  jDro- 
duce  the  highest  form  of  civilization  and  enrich  his  outward 
condition.  He  has  begun  to  look  at  the  earth  on  wliich  he 
dwells  ;  he  is  now  to  study  its  extent,  its  structure,  its  divis- 
ions, its  laws.  He  sees  above  him  planets  and  stars  moving 
in  silent  majesty  ;  he  is  now  to  investigate  their  laws  of  mo- 
tion and  light,  and  ascertain  the  position  which  the  earth 
occupies  among  these  countless  worlds.  He  has  begun  to 
know  himself,  his  family ;  he  must  now  enlarge  his  view, 
spread  his  mind  over  states  and  nations,  over  the  history  of 
the  past  and  the  multiform  asjDCcts  of  the  present.  He  has 
learnt  the  first  principles  of  law,  justice,  integrity,  benevo- 
lence ;  he  must  now  proceed  to  ascertain  their  foundations 


THE     THKEE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.        125 

and  relations  ;  to  behold  their  operation  in  society  ;  to  dis- 
cover the  source  of  the  evils  that  afflict  the  world,  the  experi- 
ments that  have  failed,  and  the  fountains  from  whence  the 
bloody  streams  of  war  have  ever  flowed  ;  to  understand  the 
various  institutions  of  civil  society,  the  rise  of  nations  in 
power,  and  religion,  the  causes  which,  working  secretly  for  long 
ages,  have  most  corrupted  or  most  blessed  mankind.  He  has 
begun  to  compass  the  elements  of  religious  science,  but  now 
he  is  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  the  higher  truths  of  a  spirit- 
ual world  as  they  are  found  in  the  wide  field  of  natural  The- 
ology— the  all-embracing  providence  of  Jehovah — and  the 
revelation  made  in  his  Word.  To  these  truths,  and  others  of 
a  similar  nature,  he  is  soon  to  address  himself — these  he  must 
in  part  master  or  be  prepared  to  master  before  he  can  take 
his  place  as  an  educated  man. 

In  order  to  make  these  attainments,  certain  things  are  es- 
sential— 1.  The  youth  must  gather  together  and  pass  in  re- 
view the  facts,  in  the  just  combination  of  which  all  advanced 
science  consists.  These  are  to  science  as  stones,  brick  and 
timber  to  a  building.  They  are  not  science,  any  more  than 
these,  before  being  fitly  put  together,  are  an  edifice,  but  they 
are  the  essential  materials  out  of  which  it  is  constructed. 
Without  facts  there  is  no  knowledge,  only  fancies,  theories, 
speculations,  variable  and  fleeting  as  the  clouds.  The  child 
who  mistakes  the  forms  in  the  sky  for  palaces  and  angels,  is 
as  just  in  his  opinions  as  the  man  who  takes  the  forms  of  his 
imagination  for  substantial  realities.  The  neglect  of  facts, 
the  disposition  to  create  their  appearances,  and  weave  the- 
ories out  of  the  brain  alone,  kept  the  world  in  darkness  and 
held  science  back  for  centuries.  The  simple  law  of  induction 
— letting  facts  reveal  the  law  and  not  the  law  mold  the 
facts — has  given  an  amazing  impulse  to  discovery,  created 
new  sciences,  overturned  fanciful  pursuits,  and  spread  abroad 
among  men  the  blessings  of  many  admirable  inventions. 
The  disposition  to  theorize  without  facts — to  generalize  from 
a  single  fact  or  two  ;  the  indisposition  to  wait  for  the  patient 
survey  and  analysis  of  a  large  number  of  particulars  ;    the 


126  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUESES. 

facility  with  which  men  can  speculate,  dream  and  build  air 
castles,  exists  still.  All  around  us  are  those  who  live  in  a 
region  of  theories  unestahlished  ;  who  dream  in  a  world  of 
realities,  and  at  length  die  martyrs  to  their  zeal  in  the  cause 
of  ignorance.  Let  the  youth  then  learn  patiently  to  gather 
up  the  sound  materials  of  science  ;  let  his  mind  be  ever 
awake  to  the  forms  and  realities  around  him  ;  let  him  search 
into  the  secret  chambers  of  nature  ;  let  not  appearances 
deceive  him,  but  let  him  learn  to  wait  until  that  which  is 
substantial  unfolds  itself,  and  he  will  be  jireparing  himself 
for  those  rich  possessions  in  science,  which  will  alike  ennoble 
the  intellect,  and  fit  it  for  usefulness. 

2.  In  immediate  connection  with  this  gathering  of  the 
materials  follows  the  training  of  the  mind  to  use  them  for 
some  good  purpose.  The  intellect  must  be  accustomed  to 
grasp,  to  combine,  to  separate,  to  classify.  It  must  learn  to 
reason  on  facts,  to  reach  correct  inferences,  to  make  one  re- 
sult a  firm  foundation  on  which  to  proceed  to  a  higher  result. 
This  power  of  arresting  the  processes  of  thought,  of  keeping 
the  imagination  in  check,  of  discriminating  between  the  false 
and  the  true,  of  holding  the  mind  long  intent  upon  a  subject, 
and  then  having  carefully  examined  its  different  aspects,  ar- 
riving at  just  conclusions,  is  that  which  distinguishes  the  man 
of  judgment  and  true  science  from  the  child  and  the  charla- 
tan. This  power  constitutes  a  possession  most  precious  in 
all  circumstances.  It  is  an  endowment  that  shines  as  lus- 
trously in  private  fife  as  it  does  in  the  marts  of  business,  and 
adorns  as  truly  the  domestic  circle  as  the  forum  and  the  pul- 
pit. Destitute  of  this  neither  man  nor  woman  is  fully  Edu- 
cated. 

3.  In  addition  to  these  attainments,  it  is  essential  that  the 
youth  should  master  the  language  in  which  he  is  to  commu- 
nicate with  his  fellow-men.  He  should  investigate  its  copi- 
ous vocabulary,  its  terms  of  science,  its  capacity  for  subtle 
thought — for  deep  impression — ^for  the  clear  unfolding  of  his 
ideas  on  all  subjects.  This  he  should  do  in  order  to  the  ac- 
quirement on  the  one  hand  of  a  pure  diction  and  on  the  other 


THE     THEEE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.        127 

of  a  correct  style  of  composition.  The  power  of  expressing 
himself  in  language  clear,  simple,  correct  and  impressive,  is 
of  great  importance.  A  lame,  slovenly,  ungrammatical  style 
of  speech,  indicates  the  neglect  of  the  noble  instrument  of 
thought  and  intercommunication  between  mind  and  mind  ;  a 
failure  to  train  aright  that  fine  faculty  of  language  by  which 
society  is  so  much  distinguished  and  blest.  On  the  other 
hand  the  ability  to  write  correctly,  to  commit  readily  and 
clearly  his  thoughts  to  paper,  is  of  no  secondary  consequence. 
Essential  in  some  pursuits,  it  is  useful  in  all ;  nor  can  the 
youth  justly  regard  himself  as  fully  prepared  for  life,  who  has 
failed  to  attain  the  power  of  composition.  These  are  three 
things  which  enter  into  the  second  style  of  education.  It  is 
in  making  these  attainments  that  the  mind  becomes  disci- 
plined for  the  after  pursuits  of  time. 

It  is  obvious  that  such  acquisitions  are  not  made  either 
naturally,  nor  easily,  nor  in  a  brief  period.  They  are  the 
product  of  close  application,  continued  for  years  and  directed 
to  subjects  remote  from  popular  view.  They  are  such  things 
as  the  young  do  not  acquire  spontaneously  ;  such  as  most 
parents  have  neither  the  time  nor  the  ability  to  impart.  The 
youth  has  to  go  beyond  things  sensible  ;  he  must  leave  the 
outer  for  the  inner  world.  This  is  always  difficult.  It  re- 
quires application,  direct  effort,  fixed  times,  abstraction  from 
other  objects,  the  instrumentality  of  books.  Left  to  himself, 
after  he  has  mastered  that  elementary  knowledge  which  pours 
itself  ujion  liim  at  every  step,  he  devotes  himself  to  pleasure, 
to  sensual  gratification,  to  sports  which  however  well  they 
may  be  as  recreation  are  ruinous  when  they  constitute  em- 
ployment. Hence  arises  the  school  to  meet  this  new  stage  of 
progress.  Teachers,  text  books,  and  all  the  machinery  of  in- 
struction come  to  the  aid  of  the  parent.  The  youth  is  iso- 
lated from  the  world,  disciplined  in  classes,  stimulated  by  a 
generous  emulation,  roused  to  put  forth  his  latent  powers  by 
the  foreseen  position  of  influence  and  usefulness  he  can  attain. 
Thus  habits  of  study  are  formed  ;  thus,  one  after  another, 
difficulties  vanish  ;    the  mind  grows  in  science  and  power 


128  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUESES. 

gradually  but  surely.  The  exijerienced  teacher,  the  admir- 
able text  book,  the  daily  recitation,  the  private  application, 
the  freedom  from  other  cares,  the  genial  warmth  of  learning 
quickening  the  spirit,  all  combine  to  urge  the  youth  forward 
in  the  training  of  his  intellect.  Thus  the  school  tills  up  this 
second  stage  of  education.  Taking  the  child  from  the  nursery, 
it  forms  his  youth  ;  it  follows  out  the  work  of  childhood  and 
exalts  him  to  a  higher  position  in  life,  preparing  him  at  length 
to  test  his  principles  and  apply  his  intellect  to  practical  af- 
fairs, when  he  goes  forth  into  society.  The  school  !  Let  me 
pause  a  moment  over  the  sweet  and  bitter  memories  which 
cluster  around  that  word.  What  visions  of  pothooks  and 
trammels  !  of  refractory,  knotty,  mispronounced  and  mis- 
sjDelled  words  !  of  verbs  and  nouns,  and  tenses  and  cases,  the 
mysteries  of  grammar,  rise  before  me  !  What  a  profound 
geographer  was  the  lad  who  could  repeat  without  failure  the 
capital  of  every  State  in  the  Union  !  What  an  object  of  ad- 
miration the  boy  who  could  cipher  in  fractions  and  the  rule 
of  three  !  What  a  cyclopedia  of  knowledge  was  he  who 
could  tell  the  very  day  of  the  adoption  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  could  prove  to  our  satisfaction  that  the 
sun  did  not  rise  in  the  east !  How  blessed  was  that  season 
when  Webster's  spelling-book  was  a  work  of  vast  research, 
Dobell's  arithmetic  the  sum  of  mathematical  science,  and  our 
worshipful  schoolmaster,  next  to  George  Washington,  the 
greatest  man  in  the  Union  !  The  joyous  holidays — the  train- 
ings—  the  anniversaries — the  vacations,  how  did  the  very 
thoughts  of  them  once  thrill  the  heart  with  pleasure  ;  while 
alas  !  as  if  to  vindicate  the  truthfulness  of  that  old  apothegm, 
"  there  is  no  flower  without  its  thorn,"  memory  still  retains 
the  impression  of  sundry  ferrulings  and  whippings  adminis- 
tered, in  the  very  spirit  of  Solomon's  philosophy,  upon  our 
youthful  persons,  innocent  of  all  evil  but  the  eating  of  apples 
and  trying  the  temper  of  our  pen-knives  upon  desks  and 
benches  ! 

Such  was  the  school !    Yet  there  the  spirit  of  many  a  strong 
man  was  disciplined  for  a  noble  future.     Little  by  little  we 


THE     THKEE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.         129 

rose  ;  gradually  the  prescribed  course  of  instructiuu  was  gone 
over  ;  one  left  for  his  farm,  another  for  his  trade,  another  for 
merchandise  ;  the  girls  now  ripened  into  young  ladies  passing 
off  to  keep  them  company — while  here  and  there  a  solitary 
soul,  destined  by  our  fathers  to  other  fields  of  labor  departed 
for  the  sterner  struggle  of  college  life.  The  school  !  how  vast 
its  influence  !  how  grand  the  results  it  has  wrought  out  !  how 
indispensable  to  the  full  education  of  the  young.  The  college 
may  form  the  few,  but  the  school  is  the  mother  of  the  many  ; 
the  college  may  perfect  the  teacher,  but  the  millions  of  the 
taught,  who  in  time,  as  fathers  and  mothers  are  to  teach  the 
young  in  their  first  stage  of  education,  who  are  to  move  the 
vast  operations  of  human  society,  build  cities  and  towns,  re- 
claim the  earth  from  its  curse  and  bid  it  bring  forth  food  and 
flowers,  spread  commerce  from  continent  to  continent,  and 
make  the  desert  bloom  with  all  the  life  of  civilization — these 
reverence  the  school  as  their  "Alma  Mater."  From  her  walls 
they  go  forth  possessed  of  the  elements  of  intelligence  and 
prepared  to  cultivate  the  bounteous  heritage  given  to  them 
of  their  heavenly  Father.  They  ascend  the  mountains,  they 
fill  the  valleys,  they  cover  the  plains,  they  compass  the  sea, 
they  sustain  all  noble  institutions  ;  and  amidst  all  their  wan- 
derings they  look  back  with  thanksgiving  to  this  their  noble 
mother. 

Let  us  pass  now  to  the  third  stage  of  education — Society. 
To  some  I  may  seem  about  to  broach  a  novelty — a  new  term 
in  Education.  Imagining  that  the  school  or  academy  finishes 
that  business,  as  full-grown  men  and  women  they  are  abund- 
antly qualified  by  previous  discipline  to  play  their  part  suc- 
cessfully. It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  foundation  of  character 
has  by  this  time  been  laid  and  the  edifice  reared  upon  it.  Yet 
it  is  equally  true,  that  the  structure  has  not  attained  all  that 
completeness  "which  fits  it  for  the  finest  use.  The  walls  have 
been  reared  and  the  roof  thrown  over,  but  the  windows  may 
be  unhung,  the  doors  without  fastenings,  the  walls  without 
plaster,  the  whole  building  without  paint  or  ornament.  In 
point  of  fact,  it  is  impossible  in  the  second  stage  of  Education, 


130  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

without  prolonging  it,  to  effect  all  these  things.  If.  we  seek 
to  erect  only  a  log-cabin,  with  its  apjoropriate  furniture — a 
tolerable  dwelling  place — short  time  is  necessary  for  the 
work  ;  but  if  we  wish  to  rear  a  structure  that  will  combine 
stability,  convenience,  spaciousness  and  elegance,  we  shall 
be  obliged  to  go  through  a  far  more  elaborate  process.  In 
the  school  the  intellect  has  been  disciplined  so  as  to  enable  it 
to  advance ;  it  learns  hoio  to  think,  without  as  yet  having 
attained  the  chief  results  of  thought  ;  it  is  prepared  to  gain 
knowledge,  it  can  not  go  forth  instinct  with  it.  In  this  pro- 
cess of  mental  and  moral  discipline,  some  great  principles 
are  settled  and  a  certain  amount  of  knowledge  material  to 
success  in  life  attained.  Yet  in  comparison  to  the  whole 
field  open  to  us,  these  results  are  very  inconsiderable.  The 
work  of  the  school  has  been  chiefly  to  discipline  the  intellect, 
strengthen  it  to  grapple  with  questions  presented  in  after  life, 
and  afford  it  a  sufficient  acquaintance  with  general  literature 
to  enable  it  afterwards  to  prosecute  the  acquisition  of  it  in 
any  desired  direction  with  ease  and  pleasure.  When  the 
girl  leaves  school,  she  has  yet  to  go  through  another  process 
of  Education,  before  she  can  be  fully  j)repared  for  the  work 
of  her  life.  As  a  young  lady  she  enters  her  father's  house 
and  goes  forth  into  society.  What  has  she  yet  to  acquire  ? 
She  occupies,  and  is  destined  to  occupy  a  twofold  relation — 
one  to  the  household,  the  other  to  society.  These  relations 
are  in  reality  closely  connected,  however  much  they  may  be 
generally  separated.  Her  relation  to  the  household  is  first 
in  importance,  and  if  rightly  filled,  she  can,  with  a  true  in- 
dependence, take  her  appropriate  position  in  society.  I  am 
not  derogating  from  the  dignity  of  my  theme,  therefore,  in 
maintaining,  as  one  thing  indispensable  to  the  well-educated 
woman,  the  art  of  managing  successfully  the  affairs  of  a 
household.  By  the  ordinance  of  providence,  in  all  civilized 
communities,  this  department  of  life  falls  to  the  female.  It 
is  not  one  to  be  slighted  or  desjjised,  nor  can  it  be  mastered  in 
a  few  days.  It  stands  connected  far  more  intimately  than  at 
first  sight  appears  with  the  prosperity  of  the  family,  the  hap- 


THE    THREE     STAGES    OF     EDUCATION.         131 

piness  of  individuals  and  the  elevation  of  society.  Many  a 
man  has  been  harassed  and  broken  for  life — lost  to  society 
and  the  world  by  a  union  with  one  who,  either  through  con- 
tempt of  the  attainment,  or  with  the  best  dispositions,  through 
early  neglect,  was  unable  wisely  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  a 
family.  She  who  thinks  the  fingers  that  have  touched  the 
strings  of  the  harp  and  the  keys  of  the  piano  too  delicate  for 
housewifery  ;  she  who  supposes  that  the  genius  instinct  with 
poetry — the  mind  capable  of  dissecting  Butler,  and  demon- 
strating Euclid,  is  of  too  refined  a  nature  to  descend  to  the 
study  of  the  "  Receipt"  book  and  the  management  of  a  kitch- 
en, had  better  renounce  matrimony  and  betake  herself  to  that 
fairy  land  where  life  is  nourished  without  eating,  and  a  genial 
climate  permits  nature  to  be  satisfied  with  the  slightest  cov- 
ering. 

The  first  years  of  my  life  were  passed  in  a  large  manufac- 
turing town.  Gentlemen  from  abroad  occasionally  sent  their 
sons  thither  to  undergo  the  training  necessary  to  make  them 
accomplished  managers  of  similar  establishments  in  other 
places.  The  young  gentlemen,  not  unfrequently  fresh  from 
college,  were  obliged  to  commence  their  apprenticeship  by  en- 
gaging in  almost  the  lowest  department  of  labor.  From  this 
they  ascended  through  the  difierent  kinds  of  work  until  they 
had  mastered  the  whole.  In  this  way  they  became  accom- 
plished critics,  understood  precisely  the  character  of  the  work 
produced,  and  knew  how  to  direct  others  to  do  it.  If  there  is 
any  better  way  than  this  for  you  to  gain  a  practical  acquaint- 
ance with  your  appropriate  duties  as  the  guiding  minds  of  a 
household,  qualifying  you  either  to  direct  others,  or,  if  need 
be,  perform  the  work  yourselves,  I  leave  for  others  wiser  on 
this  subject  to  determine.  But  be  assured,  whatever  different 
opinions  there  may  be  about  the  best  way  of  fitting  youi«- 
selves  for  these  duties,  the  subject  is  one  that  demands  the 
most  serious  consideration — a  part  of  your  education  in  Soci- 
ety which  you  may  not  neglect,  without  exposure  to  personal 
mortification,  even  should  you  be  so  happy  as  to  avoid  in- 
volving  others  in   the   consequences   of  your  inexperience. 


132  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

Could  we  trace  out  the  causes  which  have  given  success  in 
life  to  one,  and  withheld  it  from  another  of  equal  ability,  I 
doubt  not  that  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  faithful,  wise, 
and  diligent  mind  at  home  would  often  be  found  among  the 
most  powerful.  The  world,  in  some  of  its  features,  may  have 
changed  since  the  time  of  Solomon  ;  society  may  wear  a  dif- 
ferent dress  and  custom  put  on  new  forms  ;  but  the  radical 
elements  of  private  prosperity  and  happiness  are  unchange- 
able. The  secret  fountains  are  the  same  in  every  age.  The 
streams  may  run  in  new  channels,  through  new  regions,  amid 
new  scenery  ;  the  plains  and  the  mountains  may  spread  and 
rise  in  new  aspects,  while  the  springs  that  feed  the  streams  and 
fertilize  the  plains  and  gush  from  the  mountain  side,  remain 
the  same  as  the  sources  of  blessing.  So  the  costume  of  the 
virtuous  woman,  whose  lixicQ  is  above  rubies  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  Solomon,  may  partake  of  the  time  and  manners  and 
customs  among  which  she  lived,  but  the  ideas  that  are  thus 
clothed  in  garments  to  us  somewhat  strange,  express  the  es- 
sential qualities  of  a  noble  and  useful  woman  in  every  age — 
of  one  who  from  the  retiracy  of  her  own  home,  sends  forth 
an  influence  that  crowns  her  children,  her  husband  and  her 
friends  with  honor.  Happy  will  you  be,  if  the  world  shall 
honor  you  through  those  whom  your  domestic  virtues  and 
home  life  have  quickened  and  blest. 

As  you  leave  this  place,  however,  there  are  still  other  rela- 
tions you  are  to  sustain,  invohdng  duties,  imposing  responsi- 
bilities, and  drawing  after  them  results  of  no  small  importance. 
You  now  enter  upon  life  in  its  more  mature  and  earnest  form. 
Parents,  brothers  and  sisters,  friends,  claim  you  as  co-workers 
in  performing  the  duties  devolving  upon  adult  age.  You  take 
your  position  as  young  ladies  in  association  with  general 
stciety.  The  days  of  childhood  and  girlhood  are  past.  As 
educated  women,  of  disciplined  minds,  and  formed  judg- 
ments, you  are  called  upon  to  bear  your  part  in  real  life  ;  to 
minister  to  the  advancement  of  society,  and  share  in  all  those 
practical  efforts  essential  to  its  refinement  and  elevation.  Im- 
mediately on  your  entrance  into   these  scenes,  there  com- 


THE     THKEE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.        133 

raences  a  process  of  action  and  reaction  between  you  and  the 
new  elements  az'ound  you.  Hitherto  you  have  been  the  gay, 
careless  spirit,  a  singing  bird  joyous  in  the  mere  consciousness 
of  a  vigorous  existence,  or  you  have  been  theorizing,  specu- 
lating, looking  at  things  in  the  abstract,  disciplining  the 
mind  for  future  action.  Now  you  enter  upon  the  practical 
relations  of  life.  Your  opinions,  if  formed,  are  to  be  tested; 
if  not  fully  formed,  they  are  to  be  matured  and  settled  amidst 
the  conflicts  of  society.  Principles  are  now  to  be  applied  to 
practice  ;  the  discipline  of  the  mind  made  available  in  meet- 
ing questions  which  constantly  arise.  You  are  to  converse 
so  as  to  give  and  receive  profit  and  pleasure.  You  are  to 
shed  around  you  a  quiet,  luminous,  refreshing  influence  ;  not 
as  noisy  debaters,  not  as  vociferous  and  random  talkers,  not  as 
vain  presumers  on  the  license  granted  to  youth  and  beauty, 
but  as  educated  young  ladies,  whose  studies  have  invigorated 
their  understandings  and  qualified  them  to  act  a  sensible  part 
in  society.  You  will  be  obliged,  in  your  intercourse  with  oth- 
ers, to  hear  opinions  that  are  crude  and  often  false,  sentiments 
not  only  untrue  but  of  a  most  destructive  tendency.  Life 
and  society  are  composed  of  heterogeneous  elements.  Vari- 
ous opinions  and  characters  enter  into  their  composition.  It 
is  in  the  friendly  collision  and  intercourse  of  these,  that  God 
has  ordained  our  faith,  our  general  principles  and  courses  of 
action,  shall  be  firmly  settled.  Youth  not  unfrequently  runs 
a  most  perilous  course  ;  the  glory  and  the  pleasure  that  lift 
themselves  in  the  future,  often  blind  it  to  the  course  of  the 
current  on  which  it  floats,  until  the  roar  of  the  rapids  sud- 
denly falls  upon  the  ear.  Error  is  often  urged  by  persuasive 
lips  ;  mellifluous  words,  like  honey  gathered  from  certain 
flowers,  may  convey  the  deadliest  poison,  while  truth  may 
find  utterance  in  plain,  rude  speech.  Error  may  appear  in  all 
the  fascinations  of  a  winning  sophistry,  the  principles  of  evil, 
robed  as  angels  of  light,  may  beckon  us  on  into  flowery  paths, 
while  truth  and  holiness  may  wear  a  homely  garb  and  seem 
opposite  to  the  joyous  state  of  youth.  There  are  two  of 
Cole's  pictures  which  at  this  time  of  your  life  would  form  a 


134  EDUCATIONAL    DISCOUKSES, 

most  instructive  study.  I  allude  to  "  Youth"  and  "  Manhood" 
in  his  Voyage  of  Life.  The  first,  with  its  glory  lifting  itself  so 
gi-andly  in  the  future,  while  the  current  of  life's  river  suddenly 
sweeps  the  voyager  away  from  even  the  prospect  of  it ;  the 
second  with  its  cataract  and  rapids  below,  and  its  scowling 
fiends  and  angel  of  mercy  above,  convey  to  the  heart  a  lesson 
of  actual  life  which,  if  you  will  but  learn,  will  prepare  you 
to  meet  many  a  temptation  that,  coming  suddenly  upon  you, 
might  prove  too  strong  for  the  principles  of  good  you  now 
cherish.  In  this  state  of  things,  it  belongs  to  your  discipline 
for  eternity,  to  learn  how  to  discriminate  the  evil  amidst  its 
shows  of  beauty,  the  good  amidst  its  seeming  evil.  This  is 
a  high  attainment  in  Education.  It  is  one  for  which  the 
nursery  and  the  school  may  have  prepared  you,  but  which 
they  can  not  fully  bestow.  It  is,  in  part,  the  work  of  society; 
it  is  to  rise  out  of  the  intercourse  with  various  and  indepen- 
dent minds.  Here,  in  the  collisions  of  sentiment  and  amidst 
the  diversities  of  opinion,  you  are  to  justify  this  delightful 
description  : 

"  How  charming  is  divine  philosophy, 
Not  harsh  and  crabbed  as  dull  fools  suppose, 
But  musical  as  is  Apollo's  lute, 
And  a  perpetual  feast  of  nectar'd  sweets, 
Where  no  crude  surfeit  reigns." 

The  influence  of  society  in  molding  us,  is  more  powerful 
from  being  imperceptible.  The  young  go  forth  into  it,  as  if 
prepared  to  mold  and  fashion  it  after  their  own  pattern.  In 
the  end  it  not  unfrequently  happens  that  they  are  changed 
and  greatly  changed  without  being  fully  aware  of  the  trans- 
formation. So  a  person  in  a  skiff  attempts  to  draw  a  frigate 
to  himself;  they  approach  rapidly,  but  it  is  soon  manifest 
that  while  the  latter  may  have  moved  an  inch,  the  former  has 
moved  a  mile.  Society  is  already  a  formed,  solid  body,  not 
easily  affected  by  extraneous  influences,  but  raj)idly  influen- 
cing all  who  enter  the  circle  of  its  power.  While  you  give 
and  receive  influence,  you  will  perceive  the  necessity  of  be- 


THE     THREE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.  ISo 

ing  on  your  guard  against  that  overwhelming  force  whicli 
steals  around  and  gradually  molds  the  young  according  to  its 
own  image. 

There  are  three  attainments,  among  others,  which  a  young 
lady  in  this  last  stage  of  education  should  make.  (1.)  A  ma- 
ture judgment.  Of  this  you  have  laid  the  foundation  in  the 
school.  But  in  society  you  have  a  wide  field  for  its  exer- 
cise, and  numerous  exigencies  to  develop  it  more  perfectly. 
There  are  some  theories  to  discard,  some  imaginations  to  re- 
duce, some  day  dreams  to  dissipate.  The  application  of  just 
principles  to  practice  is  a  high  attainment  ;  it  constitutes 
ripe  judgment,  it  distinguishes  one  man  above  another  for 
practical  wisdom.  The  jjossession  of  such  principles  is  a 
good  thing,  hut  it  is  a  much  better  thing  to  be  able  to  apply 
them  just  when  and  where  they  are  most  needed.  There  are 
some  in  whom  correct  principles  are  like  loose  jewels  hidden 
and  useless  ;  there  are  others  in  whom  they  are  like  those 
jewels  set  by  the  hand  of  a  master,  and  flashing  forth  their 
beauty  before  the  eyes  of  men.  There  are  some,  who,  with 
all  their  learning  never  learn  how  to  act  in  society,  so  as  to 
attain  the  confidence  of  others,  and  prosecute  a  successful 
plan  of  life  ;  there  are  often  others  of  far  less  intelligence 
who  readily  seize  upon  the  true  principles  of  action  and  early 
learn  how  best  to  apply  them,  whose  practical  judgment  and 
tact  is  worth  far  more,  as  an  element  of  success  and  happi- 
ness, than  the  mere  knowledge  of  books.  Nothing  tends  so 
much  to  bring  literature  and  science,  in  respect  to  female  edu- 
cation, into  disrepute,  as  the  possession  of  these  without  the 
knowledge  of  life  as  it  is,  or  the  ability  wisely  to  take  advan- 
tage of  circumstances  and  meet  the  oft-recuiring  demands  of 
society.  It  is  one  of  the  most  important  parts  of  education 
to  attain  the  power  of  judging  as  by  instinct  of  the  true,  the 
right,  the  pure,  the  appropriate,  the  profitable.  The  mind 
should  possess  a  judgment  like  a  flaming  two-edged  sword, 
turning  every  way  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  evil  into  your 
own  soul  and  oblige  others  to  recognize  its  power.     This, 


136  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUKSES. 

nowever,  is  no  gift  of  the  schools.  It  must  be  gained  fully  in 
actual  life,  amidst  the  conflicting  elements  of  society. 

(2.)  This  judgment  thus  matured  should  then  be  sustained 
by  firmness  of  purpose.  Decision  of  character  is  not  an  ap- 
propriate attribute  of  a  genuine  man  alone — it  gives  consist- 
ency and  strength  to  the  true  woman.  Guided  by  strong 
sense  and  intelligence,  pervaded  by  gentleness  and  expressing 
itself  in  that  refinement  of  manners  which  adorns  her  life, 
elevated  far  above  obstinacy,  it  imparts  stability  to  all  that  is 
lovely  and  jDrecious,  and  furnishes  a  firm  ground  of  confidence 
in  respect  to  usefulness.     A  poet  of  the  last  generation  writes, 

"Oh!  woman  in  our  hours  of  ease, 
Uncertain,  coy,  and  hard  to  please, 
And  variable  as  the  shade 
By  the  light  quivering  aspen  made ; 
When  pain  and  anguish  wring  the  brow 
A  ministering  angel  thou." 

Admirable  as  is  the  compliment  in  the  closing  lines,  yet  you 
will  not  regard  it  as  redeeming  the  severe  judgment  of  that 
which  precedes.  From  that  judgment  you  should  seek  to  vin- 
dicate yourselves.  No  woman  whose  mind  has  been  matured 
amidst  the  practical  relations  of  society,  and  who  has  formed 
herself  to  decision  in  action,  can  properly  be  compared  to 
"  the  shade  by  the  light  quivering  aspen  made." 

(3.)  Kefinement  of  manners.  True  refinement  has  its 
source  in  the  heart,  and  its  deepest  fountain  is  genuine  re- 
ligious faith.  This  you  have  been  taught  to  seek  as  above 
all  things  most  valuable.  But  the  manifestation  of  those 
feelings,  in  an  easy  addi'ess  that  proclaims  the  desire  to  com- 
municate happiness,  is  usually  an  acquisition  of  society  itself. 
With  maimers  refined  and  gentle,  breathing  the  nobility  of 
kindness  to  all  within  your  influence,  without  assumption  or 
fear,  without  the  boldness  of  the  virago  or  the  timidity  of  a 
bashful  child  ;  with  this  happy  mean  of  gentleness,  modesty 
and  self-assurance  ;  ready  to  bear  your  part  in  the  intercourse 
of  life,  and  contribute  your  quota  to  promote  the  interests  of 
society,  you  will  have  profited  by  the  educational  influence 


THE     THKEE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.        137 

around  you,  and  reached  a  position  from  which  you  may  ac- 
complish great  good. 

Thus  these  three  things,  mature  judgment,  decision  and 
refinement  in  manners,  are  usually  attained  in  their  fullness 
only  under  the  educational  influence  of  society.  In  this  con- 
nection, there  are  various  and  important  topics  on  which  the 
time  alloted  to  this  service  will  not  allow  us  to  dwell.  One 
suggestion  permit  me  to  make,  ere  I  close.  If  you  would 
make  these  exercises  of  the  school  bring  forth  the  richest 
fruits  in  society  you  must  maintain  the  habit  of  study.  It 
will  be  impossible  for  most  of  you  to  devote  your  chief  atten- 
tion to  intellectual  pursuits,  as  you  have  done  here.  Other, 
and,  for  the  time,  higher  objects  will  claim  your  attention 
and  exhaust  most  of  your  time  and  energy.  But  amid  the 
most  pressing  domestic  cares,  there  still  remains  in  the  lives 
of  most  women,  ample  room  for  a  gradual  but  steady  prog- 
ress in  the  cultivation  of  the  mind  and  the  further  acquisi- 
sition  of  knowledge.  The  elevation  you  have  here  gained  can 
be  maintained  only  by  the  devotion  of  some  portion  of  your 
time  to  the  same  studies  which  belong  to  the  school.  The 
mind,  although  it  can  never  wholly  lose  the  quickening  and 
elevating  influence  of  your  past  course,  may  yet,  through  in- 
action or  neglect,  let  slip  many  of  its  precious  treasures,  while 
its  force  of  thought  becomes  weakened,  and  its  intellectual 
resources,  receiving  no  enlargement,  actually  decrease  as  life 
advances.  If  you  would  fit  yourselves  to  be  indeed  the  no- 
blest ornament  and  blessing  of  society,  you  must  continue  to 
commune  with  those  intellects  of  the  living  and  the  dead, 
whose  thoughts  will  enlarge  the  range  of  your  vision,  inform 
the  understanding  and  purify  the  affections.  Poetry,  history, 
philosophy,  theology  and  general  literature,  furnish  some  au- 
thors whose  works  in  part,  at  least,  you  can  master,  and  find 
yourselves  greatly  gainers.  Especially  during  the  period  that 
intervenes  between  the  school  and  settlement  in  life,  that 
halcyon  period,  when  neither  the  strict  regimen  of  the  first, 
nor  the  oppressive  cares  of  the  second  are  upon  you,  whim 
uncertain  respecting  the  future,  yet  full  of  hope,  buoyant 


138  EDUCATIONAL      DISCOURSES, 

with  high  animal  spirits,  and  bright  anticipations  of  a  world 
you  are  just  entering,  you  have  leisure  to  accomplish  much 
in  this  direction,  with  all  the  advantage  of  the  freshness  and 
impulse  given  to  the  pursuit,  by  the  scenes  from  which  you 
now  pass.  Then  it  is  easy  for  you  to  confirm  the  habits  here 
formed,  and  in  doing  that  send  your  mind  forward  into  higher 
regions  of  thought.  An  hour  each  day  redeemed  from  sleep 
or  pleasure,  will  in  a  few  years  accomplish  wonderful  results. 
It  will  not  only  make  you  respect  yourself,  but  render  you 
independent  of  those  transient  excitements  so  necessary  to  the 
enjoyment  of  others,  by  opening  up  to  you  sources  of  happi- 
ness far  deeper,  purer,  and  more  abiding.  If  now  you  carry 
forward  your  education  vigorously,  for  a  few  years  in  this 
direction,  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  will  be  a  habit  and  a 
joy,  with  which,  should  you  be  so  circumstanced,  the  cares 
of  a  family  will  not  greatly  interfere.  But  if  you  wholly  in- 
termit these  studies  now,  you  will  find  it  difiicult  to  resume 
them  in  after  life. 

There  are  three  courses  which  may  be  pursued  on  leaving 
the  school.  The  young  lady  deeming  herself  fully  educated 
according  to  the  standard  of  those  around  her,  delivered  from 
the  surveillance  of  teachers  and  ripe  for  scenes  of  pleasure, 
flings  aside  her  books  and  devotes  herself  to  present  enjoy- 
ment. If  she  reads,  it  is  only  a  work  of  fiction,  or  that  which 
constitutes  the  froth  of  literature,  something  to  minister  a 
transient  excitement,  rather  than  nourish  deep  thought.  If 
she  plays,  it  is  only  to  practice  her  old  pieces  for  the  evening's 
amusement.  Dress,  society,  pleasure,  form  the  cycle  of  her 
new  life.  There  is  no  advance  contemplated ;  neither  life 
nor  society  is  studied,  nor  the  higher  duties  they  impose  un- 
derstood and  fulfilled.  The  judgment  matures  only  by  stern 
experiences.  The  immortal  mind  that  might  have  gone  on 
rising  in  knowledge  and  strengthening  for  life's  great  work,  is 
satisfied  with  the  pursuits  of  a  butterfly,  and  content  with 
the  same  kind  of  admiration  elicited  by  that  gay  insect.  Need 
I  paint  her  future  ? 

There  is  a  second  class,  few  in  number,  but  rich  in  talents, 


THE     THREE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.        139 

in  whom  the  love  of  literature  and  science  has  grown  into  the 
most  absorbing  passion ;  whose  lives  are  consequently  devoted 
almost  exclusively  to  the  interests  of  education,  or  the  pursuit 
of  knowledge.  Here  and  there  minds  hke  those  of  Hannali 
More  and  Mary  Lyon,  appear  in  the  past  and  present,  so 
constituted  originally  and  so  improved  by  assiduous  cultiva- 
tion, and  so  animated  by  enthusiasm,  as  to  be  qualified  to 
spread  abroad  a  wide  and  deep  influence,  as  among  the  best 
writers  and  educators  of  their  age.  Such  minds  now  rare,  as 
education  shall  more  thoroughly  discipline  the  females  of  the 
generations  to  come,  will  doubtless  be  multiplied  ;  the  frag- 
rance and  bloom  of  woman's  spirit  will  enrich  our  literature, 
as  well  as  bless  the  more  limited  circle  of  domestic  life. 

There  is  still  another  class.  It  embraces  those  who,  with 
a  just  sense  of  the  high  position  of  woman  in  society,  seek  to 
fill  up  the  wide  circle  of  her  duties  ;  who  while  they  mingle 
in  society,  neglect  not  the  fireside,  while  they  minister  to  the 
enjoyments  of  home  and  the  healthful  intercourse  of  friends, 
yet  seek  the  fountains  of  thought,  which  the  wise  and  good 
of  the  past  have  opened ;  who,  conscious  of  their  imperfection, 
labor  to  extend  the  horizon  of  their  experience  and  knowledge, 
while  they  bring  the  results  of  that  labor  to  adorn  the  home 
they  love,  and  ennoble  their  association  with  the  world. 

Such  are  the  paths  which  open  before  you  as  you  enter 
society.  It  will  be  for  you  now  to  choose  whether  the  path- 
way of  life  shall  conduct  you  through  scenes  of  merely  tran- 
sient pleasure  profitless  for  good,  which  will  quell  the  ardent 
desire  for  advancement  in  the  excitements  of  a  present  joy, 
and  leave  you  at  length,  when  the  spirits  of  youth  have  de- 
parted and  the  bloom  of  beauty  has  vanished  and  the  storms 
of  life  arise,  like  the  inexperienced  mariner,  who,  launched 
uj)on  a  sunny  sea,  neglects  the  favoring  gales  that  would  soon 
have  wafted  him  beyond  the  reach  of  danger,  and  ere  long 
beholds  with  terror,  a  darkened  sky,  the  sea  uplifting  its 
angiy  surges  and  the  port  of  hope  yet  far  distant ;  or  whether 
you  will  pursue  that  better  path,  in  which,  conscious  of  your 
nobility  and  the  vantage  ground  for  continued  improvement, 


140 


EDUCATIONAL     DISCOUESES. 


on  which  you  now  stand,  you  will  nerve  yourselves  for  a  far 
greater  work  than  you  have  here  performed,  you  will  resolve 
to  make  society  itself  impart  to  your  spirit  a  richer  grace  and 
a  higher  degree  of  intelligence,  you  will  form  your  minds  to 
undertake  the  most  difficult  achievements,  you  will  seek  to 
gain  by  all  the  round  of  social  duties  and  intellectual  pursuits 
either  incumbent  upon  or  open  to  you,  that  more  perfect,  re- 
fined, and  noble  life  of  the  soul,  in  virtue  of  which  you  will 
shine  with  increasing  brilliancy,  and  shed  around  you  a  quick- 
ening power  for  good,  even  when  age  advances  upon  you  ;  so 
that  the  charms  of  beauty,  and  the  physical  vigor  of  youth, 
as  they  depart  will  only  reveal  the  concealed  fruit  now  blush- 
ing into  ripeness.  Especially  will  this  be  the  case,  if  what  I 
have  presupposed  in  all  this  discussion  is  true,  and  you  have 
chosen  that  better  part  which  can  not  be  taken  from  you.  If 
to  the  accomplishments  of  literature  and  the  graces  and  re- 
finements of  social  hfe,  you  add  that  pure  spmt  of  religion, 
which  exalts  whatever  it  penetrates,  enriches  poverty  and 
pours  the  light  of  knowledge  into  the  untutored  mind  of  ig- 
norance, assimilates  man  to  God,  and  holds  in  blest  harmony 
all  the  powers  of  the  soul ;  which  consecrates  all  our  attain- 
ments to  the  noblest  uses,  opens  ever  fresh  fields  of  action  and 
usefulness,  softens  the  ruggedness  and  relieves  the  painfulness 
of  the  darker  hours  of  life,  sheds  a  benison  around  affliction, 
and  ministers  a  blessing  through  the  sorrow  of  time  ;  which 
Avill  make  you  angels  of  mercy  to  our  fallen  race,  then,  when 
you  die,  while  the  tears  of  loving  and  grateful  multitudes, 
your  influence  has  made  to  feel  the  quickening  power  of  a  truly 
Christian  woman,  shall  be  your  noblest  eulogy,  the  crown  of 
life  gemmed  with  stars  shall  be  your  unfading  reward.* 


"  What  highest  prize  hath  woman  won 
In  science  or  in  art  ? 
"What  mightiest  work,  by  woman  done, 

Boasts  city,  field  or  mart? 
'She  hath  no  Raphael  I'  Painting  saith, 

'No  Newton  1'  Learning  cries ; 
Show  us  her  steamships  I  her  Macbeth  I 
Her  thought- won  victories!' 


THE     THREE     STAGES     OF     EDUCATION.       141 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen — There  are  no  objects  on  which 
the  eye  of  the  stranger,  as  he  enters  our  towns  and  villages, 
rests  more  gratefully,  than  on  these  public  institutions.  The 
private  dwelling  may  speak  of  general  prosperity,  but  it  may 
be  a  purely  physical  prosperity,  consistent,  to  some  extent, 
with  ignorance  and  vice.  There  may  be,  here  and  there,  the 
evidences  of  an  indomitable  energy,  and  large  individual  ac- 
cumulations of  wealth,  while  the  signs  of  the  truest  form  of 
public  prosperity  may  be  absent.  But  when  he  sees  broad 
avenues  planned  by  no  contracted  mind,  when  he  beholds  nu- 
merous churches  lifting  their  spires  heavenward  ;  when  the 
temple  of  Nemesis  rises  before  him  in  solid  and  majestic  pro- 
portions, as  if  even  the  stern  brow  of  Justice  should  be  wreathed 
in  classic  beauty ;  when  institutions  of  learning,  where  the 
young  are  informed  with  intelligence,  and  their  hearts  molded 
by  wisdom,  meet  him  at  every  turn,  then  a  deep,  calm  joy 
enters  his  soul.  He  feels  that  religion,  and  law,  and  intelli- 
gence have  here  their  home  ;  that  in  these  spacious  mansions, 
and  those  more  humble  dwellings,  taste  and  elegance  and 
purity  dwell  with  enterj^rise  and  skill ;  that  here  must  be  the 
elements  of  a  noble  and  an  advancing  society  ;  that  here  are 


"  "Wait,  boastful  man  I  though  worthy  are 

Thy  deeds,  when  thou  art  true, 
Things  worthier  still  and  holier  far, 

Our  sister  yet  wiU  do : 
For  this  the  worth  of  woman  shows 

On  every  peopled  shore. 
That  still  as  man  in  wisdom  grows 

He  honors  her  the  more. 

"  Oh,  not  for  wealth,  or  fame,  or  power 

Hath  man's  weak  angel  striven, 
But  silent  as  the  growing  flower. 

To  make  of  earth  a  heaven — 
And  in  her  garden  of  the  sun, 

Heaven's  brightest  rose  shall  bloom ; 
For  woman's  best  is  unbegun  ! 

Her  advent  yet  to  come!" — Elliott. 


142  EDUCATIONAL     DISCOURSES. 

minds  with  whom  his  heart  can  sympathize  and  his  spirit 
hold  pleasant  converse.  Thus  have  I  felt,  as  from  yonder  hill 
my  eye  first  rested  upon  this  beautiful  city  ;  thus  have  I  felt 
still  more  deeply,  as  my  intercourse  has  been  increased  with 
many  of  the  intelligent,  enterprising  and  the  good  among  you  ; 
thus  do  I  feel  to-day,  on  this  most  interesting  occasion,  on  the 
anniversary  of  this  cherished  institution — an  institution  de- 
voted to  the  enlarged  education  of  your  daughters,  where,  un- 
der the  most  admirable  influences,  they  may  pass  through  the 
training  of  the  school,  and  come  forth  prepared  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  perfecting  discipline  of  society,  and  become,  at 
length,  not  merely  its  ornaments,  but  plastic  powers  for  the 
molding  aright  of  those  who  are  to  enter  after  them  upon 
this  moving  scene  of  life.  Happy  is  that  people,  whom  re- 
ligion, law,  and  intelligence  ennoble.  This  trinity  of  influ- 
ence will  elevate  them  high  in  character,  enrich  them  with 
the  materials  of  power  over  men,  and  spread  abroad  the  fame 
of  their  doings  to  distant  lands.  Under  such  influences,  the 
spot  where  forty  years  ago  the  trees  of  the  forest  lifted  their 
gigantic  tops  into  the  sky,  now  bears  the  beautiful  city,  rival- 
ing those  eastern  Arcadias,  which,  for  centuries,  the  hand  of 
taste  and  wealth  has  been  adorning.  Let  such  influences 
mold  our  western  world,  and  while  Italy  boasts  of  her  art- 
ists, and  her  deep  blue  skies,  and  Greece  rejoices  in  her  Acrop- 
olis, and  her  land — one  wide  mausoleum  of  the  immortal  dead, 
and  England  exults  in  that  learning,  skill,  and  enterprise 
which  have  given  her  dominion  over  the  nations,  ive  will  re- 
joice in  a  nobler  scene,  in  richer  fruits,  in  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion, in  a  people  pervaded  with  intelligence,  exalted  above 
poverty,  obedient  to  law,  yet  bearing  the  impress  of  freedom, 
and  living  daily,  not  for  the  limited  and  selfish  object  of  a 
merely  personal  prosperity,  or  a  national  aggrandizement,  but 
in  the  spirit  of  the  Immanuel  to  impart  the  light  and  hope 
of  a  better  world  unto  all  the  benighted  dwellers  on  the  earth, 
and  raise  the  down-trodden  to  a  position  in  which  they  may 
possess  the  richest  blessings  of  time  and  the  fairest  prospects 
for  eternity. 


LITERARY  ADDRESSES 


y. 


THE    SUPREMACY    OF    MIND.* 

Among  the  leading  distinctions  which  exalt  us  above  the 
mere  brute,  the  attribute  of  mind  is  not  the  least.  It  is  not 
indeed  the  only,  nor  in  all  resj^ccts  the  chief.  If  we  are  not 
simply  animal,  neither  are  we  purely  intellectual.  For  there 
is  a  moral  in  our  nature  that  soars  above  even  the  intellectual, 
and  creates  between  man  and  the  mere  world  of  animal  in- 
stinct the  bridgeless  gulf  of  separation.  Yet  while  we  give 
the  crown  to  the  heart,  we  claim  for  the  intellect  the  seals  of 
office,  as  the  chief  executive  standing  next  to  the  throne. 

In  every  part  of  human  life,  mind  in  its  action  creates  dis- 
tinctions and  displays  the  impressive  results  of  its  invisible 
power.  The  very  form  of  our  animal  nature  has  stamped 
upon  it  peculiar  dignity,  as  a  temple  reared  expressly  for  the 
abode,  not  of  the  most  noble  of  brutes,  but  of  one  born  in 
the  divine  image — of  a  participant  in  that  sublime  nature, 
that  unfathomable  intelligence  which  2^ervades  and  compasses 
all  being.  Erect  while  all  else  is  prone,  his  lofty  bearing  is 
the  superscription  of  his  Maker  to  the  nobility  of  the  nature 
within.  Every  part  of  this  wondrous  frame  bears  in  its  con- 
struction the  marks  of  its  designed  adaptation  to  the  wants, 
not  of  a  purely  instinctive,  but  of  a  rational  inhabitant. 
Physical  superiority  was  obviously  not  in  the  eye  of  the  ar- 
chitect "?  certainly  it  is  not  attained.  The  deer  can  outstrip 
us  ;  the  eagle  outsoar  us  ;  yet  so  admirably  is  this  material 
structure  adapted  to  act  the  executive  of  the  intelligence 
within,  that  we  can  speed  on  its  deadly  mission  a  physical 

*  A  lecture  introductory  to  the  eleventh  annual  course  of  lectures  before  the 
Young  Men's  Association  of  the  city  of  Albany.     Delivered  December  3,  1844. 

10 


146  LITERARY      ADDRESSES, 

agent  tliat  will  overtake  and  bring  them  both  to  the  dust. 
Compared  with  the  powerful  horse  and  patient  ox,  the  strength 
of  the  human  frame  is  weakness  itself ;  yet  as  the  agent  of  the 
indwelling  mind,  this  puny  arm  can  tame  the  fiery  courser 
and  harness  these  brute  forces  to  his  chariot  and  his  plow. 
There  is  a  passionate  energy  that  flashes  from  the  lion's  eye  ; 
but  there  is  a  singular  intelligence  speaking  in  the  counten- 
ance— gleaming  from  the  eye  of  man,  before  which  the  forest- 
king  has  been  known  to  quail.  Look  also  at  that  splendid 
dome  of  thought,  that  crowns  our  physical  frame,  with  its 
orbs  of  intellectual  light  sparkling  beneath,  and  its  organ  of 
speech,  through  which  mind  communes  with  mind,  and  you 
can  not  fail  to  perceive  how  every  part  of  this  exquisite  or- 
ganism proclaims  the  existence  and  force  of  an  intelligent 
spirit.  And  if  you  would  see  in  all  its  vividness,  this  stamp 
of  mind  upon  our  very  framework,  go  to  the  halls  of  legisla- 
tion, when  on  some  occasion  like  that  which  gave  birth  to  our 
"  Declaration,"  the  deep  spirits  of  a  nation's  wisdom  are  roused 
and  the  waters  of  a  nation's  eloquence  are  stirred  to  then*  pro- 
foundest  depths.  Then  the  intellect,  energized  by  emotion, 
sparkles  in  the  eye — glows  in  the  countenance — plays  around 
the  uncovered  brow — kindles  on  the  lip — streams  from  the 
fingers — wakes  into  action  each  muscle  of  the  body — and 
speaks  in  one  harmonious  and  deep-toned  voice  thi'ough  all 
the  harp-strings  of  this  physical  frame. 

If  you  take  still  another  view  of  this  point,  and  compare 
the  modes  in  wliich  man  and  brute  respectively  meet  oppos- 
ing forces,  you  will  see  in  effect  the  wonderful  adaptation  of 
this  body  to  carry  into  execution  the  purj)oses  of  the  mind. 
The  brute,  in  his  efforts  to  overcome  a  physical  power,  is  de- 
pendent solely  upon  his  own  individual  physical  resources. 
The  affrighted  deer  tries  his  speed  with  the  swift-footed 
hound  ;  the  tiger  joins  in  the  death-struggle  with  the  lion  ; 
the  bird  overcomes  the  force  that  draws  him  earthward  by  the 
instinctive  use  of  his  own  strength,  and  they  all  employ  only 
the  natural  instruments  peculiar  to  each,  without  the  smallest 
power  of  varying,  combining,  or  extending  them.     But  man, 


THE     SUPREMACY     OF     MIND.  147 

feeble  in  body  and  vastly  inferior  in  purely  physical  attributes 
to  the  instmctive  creation,  has  a  mind,  which  by  a  dexterous 
combination  of  his  limited  personal  resources,  subjects  to  his 
control  the  force  not  only  of  the  animate  but  of  the  inani- 
mate world.  He  employs  nature  to  overcome  nature  ;  arrays 
foreign  forces  the  one  against  the  other,  and  by  a  skillful  dis- 
position of  those  agencies,  of  which  mind  has  given  him  the 
mastery,  he  accomplishes  results  surpassing  the  combined  ex- 
ertions of  all  the  brute  power  on  the  globe.  By  various  instru- 
ments and  forces  other  than  his  own,  he  rears  his  mill-dam — 
constructs  his  water-wheel,  and  then  compels  the  force  of 
gravitation  acting  through  the  yielding  fluid,  to  grind,  and 
saw,  and  spin,  and  carry  forward  the  various  processes  by 
which  the  materials  of  his  food  and  clothing  are  prepared  for 
use.  He  emj)loys  an  elastic  vapor  to  aid  him  in  constructing 
and  then  in  propelling  huge  vessels,  by  land  and  water,  laden 
with  riches  from  all  quarters  of  the  earth.  The  wind — the 
water — the  tide,  in  its  flux  and  reflux — the  fire — the  impal- 
pable gases — the  very  fluid  whose  explosion  shakes  the  firm 
earth  and  flashes  its  fearful  thunder  in  the  sky,  all  of  them  in 
some  degi-ee  yield  to  his  will  and  play  the  part  of  his  instru- 
ments. There  is  scarcely  a  material  agent  or  a  known  power 
of  the  physical  world  that  he  does  not,  at  least  in  part,  mas- 
ter and  compel  to  minister  to  his  necessities,  his  comfort  or 
his  luxury.  Even  the  orb  of  day,  whose  delicate  and  impon- 
derable rays  are  the  pencil  with  which  the  Infinite  colors  so 
exquisitely  the  forms  of  vegetable  beauty  that  adorn  our 
earth,  even  he,  God's  great  painter,  must  employ  his  match- 
less skill  as  a  limner  for  man.  While  a  subtile  and  ordinarily 
invisible  fluid  is  first  discovered — its  hidden  existence  and 
powers  developed  by  the  experimenting  hand  of  genius,  and 
then  subsidized  for  our  use,  it  becomes  the  fleet  post-horse 
of  the  mind,  by  which  with  a  rapidity  as  unmeasurable  as 
that  of  Heaven's  bolt,  thought,  argument,  fact,  all  the  vast 
coinage  of  the  ever-active  brain,  career  from  intellect  to  intel- 
lect, over  states — over  rivers — over  continents,  so  that  ere  the 
voice  has  died  away  in  which  it  was  uttered,  the  word  spoken 


148  LITERARY      ADDRESSES. 

is  whispered  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe.  All  this,  and 
vastly  more  than  this,  man  has  effected  through  the  wisdom 
of  his  intellect,  united  to  the  agency  of  tliis  weak  frame. 
And  thus  through  the  very  imbecility  of  his  body,  does  his 
mind  shine  forth  with  resjilendent  luster,  and  exhibits  to  us 
the  physical  man  as  bearing  in  his  construction  a  peculiar 
adaptation  to  be  the  successful  agent  of  the  intelligent  soul. 

In  order  to  establish  the  peculiar  dignity  of  mind,  and  thus 
lay  a  foundation  on  which  we  may  stand  in  m'ging  upon  you 
its  cultivation,  I  propose  to  trace  it  out  as  it  is  seen,  forming 
an  element  of  all  the  noblest  aristocracies  of  life.     It  is  an 
undoubted  fact,  that  life  has  its  aristocracies,  and  such,  too, 
as  are  inseparable  from  the  operation  of  civilized  society, — 
arrange,  and  modify,  and  mold  it  as  you  may.     They  are  not 
indeed  always  either  governmental  or  hereditary  aristocracies, 
which  belong  rather  to  the  past  and  the  other  side  of  the 
globe,  and  which  to  our  republican  vision  are  instinct  with 
evil,  but  such  as  embrace  that  which  is  most  highly  esteemed 
and  influential  in  society.     Commencing  our  survey  of  these 
with  the  aristoc7^acy  of  fashion,  let  us  see  if  we  can  not  trace 
in  it  an  evidence  of  the  dignity  and  force  of  our  intellectual 
nature.     Do  not  understand  me  here  as  designing  to  discuss 
the  qualities  of  the  race  of  dandies — a  class  who  approximate 
more  nearly  than  any  other  to  Plato's  men,  "  unfeathered 
bipeds."     I  do  not  speak  so  much  of  persons  as  things.     The 
term  fashion  is  used  legitimately  as  indicative  of  external 
forms,  and  the  term  aristocracy  as  denoting  that  class  of  out- 
ward forms  consisting  of  dress,  furniture,  architecture,  etc., 
which  are  held  in  the  liighest  estimation.     It  is  obvious  that 
there  is  everywhere  a  gradation  in  the  character  of  these  out- 
ward forms,  ascending  from  the  coarse  attire  of  the  ditchel*  to 
those  fine  and  delicate  robes  which  command  admiration  and 
impart  delight.     In  respect  to  the  furniture  and  architecture 
of  your  dwelKngs  and  halls,  there  is  the  same  gradation  from 
the  rude  to  the  exquisitely  wrought,  from  the  unfinished  set- 
tee to  the  splendid  couch — from  the  mud  hut  and  log  cabin 
to  the  lofty  palace  and  magnificent  temple.     Now  it  is  a 


THE     SUPREMACY     OF     MIND.  149 

known  fact  that  precisely  the  same  distinction  in  regard  to 
outward  forms  runs  entirely  through  human  society.  Even 
the  savage  has  his  gradations  in  this  respect,  and  the  more 
elevated  cabin  of  his  king,  and  his  more 'costly  robes,  evince 
that  he  too  is  affected  by  this  universal  aristocracy  of  fashion. 
As  we  proceed  upward,  however,  from  this  lowest  state  of 
existence,  we  find  this  appreciation  of  outward  forms  con- 
stantly developing  itself,  until,  as  in  the  highest  state  of 
Grecian,  Egyptian,  Roman  and  modern  civilization,  the  ac- 
tual structure  of  society  is  to  a  great  extent  molded  by  it. 
Now  we  contend  that  this  fact  is  of  itself  illustrative  of  the 
mental  dignity  and  intellectual  force  of  man.  This  distinc- 
tion of  forms,  this  appreciation  of  the  more  beautiful  and 
grand,  exists  nowhere  but  among  the  higher  orders  of  being. 
The  most  intelligent  of  brutes  have  never  risen  to  the  posses- 
sion of  this  power.  It  is  peculiar  to  the  rational,  and  never 
descends  to  the  instinctive.  In  itself,  it  is  the  same  appreci- 
ation of  the  beautiful  and  the  grand — of  order  and  sublimity, 
more  or  less  refined,  indeed,  according  to  the  intellectual  cul- 
tivation of  individuals,  but  yet  virtually  the  same  with  that 
which,  existing  in  the  mind  of  the  architect  of  creation,  has 
cast  the  material  world  into  such  countless  forms  of  beauty 
and  gi'andeur.  It  is  the  same  principle  existing  in  us,  and 
which,  modified  ])j  our  peculiar  circumstances,  inspires  admi- 
ration for  rich  robes  and  exquisitely  wrought  furniture,  and 
well  proportioned  architecture,  that,  operating  upon  the  divine 
mind,  has  curved  the  ocean  and  painted  the  flowers,  and  hung 
over  and  around  the  setting  sun  his  gorgeous  canojay  of  clouds. 
Our  standards  of  taste  may  in  some  respects  vary,  Avhile  the 
love  of  the  beautiful  and  the  sensibility  to  all  that  is  magnifi- 
cent may  remain  in  full  force.  One  may  prefer  to  encase  his 
limbs  in  the  dress  of  the  orient,  and  another  in  that  of  the 
Occident ;  one  has  an  imagination  most  deeply  affected  by  the 
gloomy  architecture  of  the  Egyptian,  another  loves  most  to 
contemplate  the  fine  proportion  and  majestic  harmony  of  the 
Grecian  temple,  while  still  another  is  awed  by  the  solemn  and 
irregular  grandeur  of  the  ever  branching  Gothic  :  one  may 


150  LITEKAEY     ADDKESSES. 

bow  down  to  the  genius  of  Raphael  as  the  type  of  the  noblest 
and  most  exquisite  school  of  painters,  while  another  enrolls 
himself  a  disciple  of  Rubens,  and  yet,  after  all,  there  exists  in 
each  one  the  same  genuine  love  for  beauty  and  order  and  grand- 
eur, which  we  see  revealed  in  the  spire  of  grass,  the  majestic 
oak,  the  sparkling  star,  the  blue  canopy  over  our  heads,  and 
the  verdant  carjjet  beneath  our  feet ;  and  thus,  in  our  love 
for  these  most  exquisitely  wrought  and  beautiful  forms,  do 
we  reflect  one  of  the  most  delightful  of  those  high  attributes 
which  exalt  the  infinite  Jehovah. 

But  in  addition  to  the  mere  love  of  the  more  excellent  of 
natural  forms,  there  is  joined  with  it  an  appreciation  of  the 
mental  power  that  has  produced  them.  When  you  contem- 
plate an  exquisite  or  a  magnificent  work  of  art,  you  not  only 
admire  its  beauty  and  yield  to  the  force  of  its  grandeur,  but 
if  you  will  suffer  your  mind  to  pass  beyond  the  work  itself, 
you  will  instinctively  do  homage  to  the  intellect  that  gave  it 
perfection.  In  this  apj)reciation  of  the  mental  power  put 
forth  in  works  of  art,  consists  the  true  immortality  of  the 
artist.  St.  Peter's  and  St.  Paul's  are  not  merely  the  proud 
mausoleums  where  the  genius  of  Angelo  and  Wren  lie  buried 
in  state  ;  the  intellect  of  these  men  lives  in  them,  and  breathes 
through  them,  and  lifts  itself  up  in  their  domes  and  spires, 
immortal  in  dignity,  before  the  eyes  of  passing  generations. 
The  works  of  art  are  the  human  intellect  embodied  in  voice- 
less yet  speaking  forms.  The  aristocracy  of  fashion  is  the 
assemblage  of  the  master  productions  of  master  artists.  It  is 
one  mode  in  which  mind  makes  itself  known  for  the  apprecia- 
tion of  mind.  It  is  man  working  on  a  similar  field  and  in  the 
exercise  of  similar  intellectual  power  with  his  Maker,  crea- 
ting that  which  may  meet  the  same  impulse  toward  the 
beautiful  and  grand,  which  exists  in  the  higher  natm'e  of  the 
Creator. 

Now  in  proj)ortion  as  men  rise  in  their  appreciation  of 
that  which  is  most  admirable  in  works  of  art,  do  they  usually 
become  more  truly  refined  and  intelligent.  As  society  ad- 
vances upward,  the  dark  cabin  gives  place  to  the  commodious 


THE     SUPREMACY     OF     MIND.  151 

and  finely  proportioned  palace  ;  the  person  is  arrayed  in  gar- 
ments of  a  finer  texture  and  more  tasteful  form  ;  wliile  the 
style  of  the  inclosures  and  the  arrangement  of  the  surround- 
ing grounds  display  the  advancing  refinement  of  their  pos- 
sessor. Thus,  when  I  enter  a  dwelling,  no  matter  if  it  be  far 
removed  from  the  hustle  and  the  external  polish  of  the  city, 
yet  if  I  see  a  garden  well  arranged,  and  flowers  with  their 
perennial  beauty  smiling  upon  me  from  the  window,  I  feel 
sure  that  there  is  within  a  refined  intellect,  that  can  appre- 
ciate at  once  the  forms  of  natural  loveliness  and  the  mind  of 
their  great  Architect.  So  let  a  person  of  cultivated  mental 
powers,  who  never  may  have  heard  of  Egypt  or  Grreece,  wake 
up  amidst  the  solemn  temples  of  Thebes  or  upon  the  Acropo- 
lis, and  he  will  stand  awe-struck  at  those  monuments  of  gigan- 
tic mind.  And  precisely  the  same  principle  which  in  these 
cases  evinces  that  here  mind  shines  forth  in  its  dignity  and 
glory,  runs  through  all  the  forms  of  art  which  everywhere 
compose  the  true  aristocracy  of  fashion.  Its  luster  and  its 
dignity  is  the  stamp  of  intelligence  impressed  upon  it.  As 
mind  disappears,  the  aristocracy  of  fashion  vanishes.  The 
temples  and  the  palaces  crumble,  while  the  tent  and  the  hut 
of  the  kraal  are  planted  amidst  their  ruins.  The  comforts 
and  elegances  of  life  give  place  to  the  rude  existence  of  a  sav- 
age, fattening  on  worms  and  lashed  to  labor  by  the  gaunt 
hand  of  famine,  while  in  his  gross  person  and  clouded  eye, 
the  glories  of  our  intellectual  nature  are  almost  totally 
eclipsed. 

Next  in  order  to  the  aristocracy  of  fashion,  is  that  of 
wealth. 

It  is  a  fact  open  to  the  notice  of  all,  that  the  possession 
of  large  means  ordinarily  confers  consideration.  Wealth  is 
not  oidy  power  in  the  merely  physical  resources  it  supplies, 
and  the  direct  infiuence  it  enables  its  possessor  to  exert  u2)on 
the  dependent,  but  in  the  popular  elevation  it  usually  brings 
with  it.  Now  some  of  this  influence  of  property  seems  to  us 
to  be  due  to  its  presumed  connection  with  a  refined  or  a  vig- 
orous mind.     The  mere  fact  of  the  possession  of  a  hoard  for 


152  LITERAKY     ADDKESSES. 

the  future,  is  certainly  not  adapted  in  itself  to  elevate  the 
man  ahove  the  squirrel  or  the  bee,  who  in  summer  prepare 
the  stores  of  winter.  And  surely  it  would  be  a  libel  upon 
our  common  nature  to  suppose  that  all  the  power  of  property 
is  due  to  a  selfish  expectation  of  personal  benefit.  To  some 
extent  and  in  some  cases  this  feeling  may  form  an  element  of 
the  influence  of  wealth  ;  but  he  must  be  blind  indeed,  who 
would  make  it  the  sole  element.  From  the  nature  of  the 
case,  it  must  be  confined  to  individuals,  and  can  not  account 
for  the  general  influence  of  property  beyond  the  circle  of  de- 
pendence. Nor  can  we  account  for  it  wholly  on  the  ground 
of  the  display  of  beautiful  forms,  which  it  enables  its  posses- 
sor to  make,  in  his  costly  furniture  and  equipages,  and  dwell- 
ings. For  even  in  this  case,  the  person  would  only  seem  to 
borrow  somewhat  of  the  mental  glory  of  his  artists,  and  thus 
flutter  in  their  plumage.  But  this  influence  of  property  is 
often  equally  great,  independent  of  these  things  and  in  their 
absence.  It  seems  impossible  to  account  for  all  this  influ- 
ence, without  proceeding  upon  the  supjDOsition  that  there  is 
usually  a  'presumed  connection  between  the  possession  of 
property  and  a  vigorous  or  a  refined  mind.  I  speak  here 
only  of  Si  presumptive,  and  not  a  real  connection.  The  exist- 
ence of  such  a  presumption  is  all-sufficient  to  make  up  the 
complement  of  influence  emanating  from  wealth.  The  fact 
of  its  existence  is  one  thing ;  whether  it  has  any  just  founda- 
tion is  quite  another.  The  proof  of  the  existence  of  this  fact, 
is  rather  a  matter  of  personal  consciousness,  than  of  visible 
demonstration.  If,  for  instance,  a  person,  by  his  own  efforts, 
in  the  present  state  of  society,  has  raised  himself  from  pov- 
erty to  affluence,  it  is  a  natural  presumption  that  he  has 
effected  so  great  a  change  by  the  vigor  of  his  intellect,  the 
wisdom  of  his  plans,  the  energy  of  his  character,  and  by  that 
which  enters  into  all  true  genius,  the  power  of  mental  appK- 
cation.  It  may  be  indeed  that  his  success  is  due  rather  to 
circumstances  than  to  his  individual  jjower,  to  the  steady 
application  of  the  lowest  qualities  of  mind,  or  to  a  system  of 
dishonorable  traffic.     Yet  with  this  fact  the  presumption  has 


THE     SUPREMACY     OF     MIND.  153 

nothing  to  do,  and  in  tlie  absence  of  direct  knowledge  on  tlie 
subject,  it  is  perfectly  natural  to  suppose,  that  the  acquisi- 
tion of  his  influence  is  due  to  the  steady  exertion  of  mind  in 
that  one  direction,  similar  to  that  which  has  carved  out  the 
fame  and  the  power  of  the  statesman,  the  orator,  and  the 
great  captain. 

In  the  case  of  one  who  has  inherited  property  the  pre- 
sumption is  virtually  the  same.  It  is  perfectly  natural  to 
presume  that  such  high  advantages  for  mental  improvement 
have  not  been  enjoyed  without  coiTcsponding  results.  What- 
ever the  facts  may  be  in  any  given  case,  We  expect  in  general 
that  a  man  who  from  his  youth  has  enjoyed  the  instructions 
of  the  best  masters  and  had  scattered  around  him  from  the 
cradle  the  materials  of  knowledge  and  intellectual  refinement, 
will  have  attained  something  noble  and  large —  a  degree  of 
information  and  refinement  superior  to  that  possessed  by 
those  destitute  of  his  advantages.  If,  owing  to  parental  in- 
dulgence or  his  own  jDerversity,  he  should  grow  up,  unlettered 
and  uneducated,  a  rational  expectation  is  disappointed — a 
natural  presumption  is  broken,  A  wealthy  ignoramus  in 
such  a  case  destroys  the  illusive  spell  and  revei'ses  the  en- 
chanter's wand.  The  very  fact  that  he  is  presumed  to  have 
attained  to  the  heights  of  intelligence  because  he  has  possessed 
every  facility  for  the  lofty  ascent,  lends  tenfold  vividness  to 
the  contrast  and  power  to  the  reproach. 

Leaving,- however,  particular  cases  and  returning  to  the 
general  statement,  with  which  we  set  out,  it  seems  clear  to 
us  that  when  we  enter  a  village,  om*  impressions  always  are, 
at  first,  in  favor  of  the  presumed  intelligence  of  the  wealthy 
proprietor.  If,  on  entering  his  mansion,  I  meet  with  mental 
imbecility,  rudeness  and  ignorance,  the  quick  revulsion  of 
feeling — the  blank  disappointment,  is  the  most  unerring  tes- 
timony to  the  force  of  that  presumption  of  intelligence  in 
which  we  naturally  indulge  until  facts  destroy  its  power. 
And  thus  it  appears  that  even  the  aristocracy  of  wealth  leans 
for  a  portion  of  its  dignity  upon  its  presumed  connection  with 
cultivated  mind — even  large  possessions  without  it  can  not 


154  LITEIIAKY     ADDRESSES. 

dignify  its  possessor,  nor  exalt  ignorance  and  imbecility  to  a 
station  of  respect.* 

Let  us  turn  now  to  the  aristocracy  of  official  station,  as 
a  brilliant  illustration  of  the  influence  of  mind.  There  are 
in  society  some  offices  of  sj)ecial  trust  and  responsibility, 
which  attract  to  themselves,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  the  respect 
of  the  community.  It  needs  but  a  glance  at  these  official 
stations,  to  perceive  that  along  with  uprightness  of  charac- 
ter, vigorous  mind  enters  as  an  imjiortant  element  into  the 
honor  with  which  they  are  crowned.  To  be  an  efficient  judge 
— a  successful  governor,  there  should  be  in  the  man  himself 
a  mental  power  of  no  common  kind,  rendering  him  equal  to 
his  station.  Such  stations  involve  the  decision  of  questions 
complicated  and  profound,  which  demand  a  clear  mental  vis- 
ion in  conjunction  with  a  right  and  vigorous  will.  The  men 
who  are  to  j)reside  over  courts  civil  or  ecclesiastical ;  who  as 
senators  are  to  give  character  to  the  legislation  which  is  to 
determine  the  prosperity  of  a  nation  ;  who  are  to  represent 
us  at  foreign  courts  and  canvass  the  wide  field  of  interna- 
tional law ;  who  are  to  preside  over  our  colleges,  educate 
our  rulers,  marshal  our  armies,  and  guide  our  navy,  are  called 
by  the  very  nature  of  the  stations  they  fill,  to  exercise  talents 

*  To  prevent  the  possibility  of  misconstruction,  it  maybe  well  to  remark  that 
it  is  foreign  to  the  argument,  as  it  is  to  my  belief,  that  the  possession  of  wealth 
infers  of  course  superior  intelligence.  Such  a  theory  would  not  stand  an  hour 
amidst  the  too  numerous  opposing  facts.  It  is  a  matter  of  curisus  speculation, 
however,  in  what  way  the  presumptive  connection  between  vigor  of  mind  and 
wealth,  referred  to  above,  arose.  It  would  be  unjust  to  a  large  class  of  men  to 
assert  that  it  had  no  sort  of  foundation  in  fact.  We  think  it  can  not  be  denied, 
that  as  a  body,  the  men  who  make  their  own  fortunes  are  characterized  by 
shrewdness,  tact,  and  energy.  "Where  there  is  one  "Lord  Dexter,"  with  his  suc- 
cessful foUies  and  fortunate,  but  mad  ventures,  there  are  a  dozen  acute  and  in- 
telligent Lawrences.  It  is  too  often  the  case,  however,  with  such  men,  that  their 
mental  power  all  lies  in  one  direction^  and  that  they  fail  in  attaining  comprehen- 
sive views  and  large  mental  acquisitions.  The  same  remark  is  true  in  reference 
to  the  majority  of  the  most  able  men  of  all  professions.  Few  seem  to  possess  the 
taste  or  the  time  for  those  more  general  studies  which  give  to  the  mtellect  a  wide 
range  of  action — a  point  of  survey  lofty  as  the  mountain  crag  on  which  the  eagle 
builds  his  eyrie,  and  exalt  the  man  above  the  low  and  narrow  walk  of  a  single 
profession. 


THE     SUP  K  EM  AC  Y      OF     MIND.  155 

the  most  commanding  and  wisdom  the  most  profound.  To 
place  imbecility  on  the  pinnacle  of  such  exalted  station,  is  to 
make  sport  of  the  dearest  interests  of  society.  Mind,  vigor- 
ous mind,  educated  for  its  work,  claims  these  positions  as  its 
own.  Seated  there  it  works  with  its  own  mighty  lever,  for 
the  accomplishment  of  vast  and  glorious  results.  The  intel- 
lect of  a  Napoleon,  a  Newton,  a  Washington,  a  Franklin, 
and  a  D  wight,  was  all  in  harmony  with  the  lofty  stations 
they  occupied,  and  from  them  shone  forth  luminously  upon 
the  world.  Station — office,  to  them  was  only  a  higher  point 
from  which  each  star  might  shoot  its  intellectual  fire  over  a 
larger  sphere,  within  a  wider  horizon  of  intelligence.  They 
befitted  their  high  positions,  and  to  the  world  illustrated  the 
fact  that  these  elevated  offices  gathered  no  small  measure  of 
their  luster  from  the  intellectual  glory  of  their  incumbents. 

Society  may  presume  that  a  man  is  mentally  competent 
to  the  discharge  of  the  duties  they  impose,  and  under  that 
presumption  place  him  on  these  heights,  but  should  it  be  re- 
\ealed  that  they  had  enthroned  imbecility,  disgust  and  shame 
would  go  down  through  all  ranks  to  the  very  child  upon  his 
mother's  knee.  The  very  title  of  these  offices  creates  the  ex- 
pectation that  vigorous  mind  is  in  possession  of  them  ;  and 
surely  it  would  be  impossible  long  to  preserve  them  in  honor, 
were  their  incumbents- usually  characterized  by  the  want  of 
mental  power.  Thus  in  the  aristocracy  of  official  station, 
you  can  see  how  great  is  the  influence  of  mind  in  creating  for 
them  a  dignity  and  glory  essential  to  their  permanence  and 
success.  Here  on  the  high  places  of  society,  a  clear,  a  pro- 
found, a  ready  intellect,  is  the  orb  which  circles  in  its  own 
proper  sphere.  They  are  only  lofty  eminences  from  which, 
not  ignorance  and  imbecility  may  display  themselves,  but 
knowledge  and  vast  mental  power  irradiate  the  world. 

In  leaving  the  aristocracy  of  station,  the  aristocracy  of 
profession  will  afford  us  a  closing  illustration  of  the  train  of 
thought  we  are  endeavoring  to  unfold.  In  the  outset  it  may 
be  well  to  remark,  that  in  our  land  at  least,  all  honest  occu- 
pations are  truly  honorable,  and  entitled  to  the  respect  of 


156  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

society.  But  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  all  are  not  equally 
injluential.  While  as  genuine  republicans  we  regard  every 
station  and  every  virtuous  profession  as  deserving  our  respect, 
yet  we  can  not  avoid  recognizing  the  fact  which  reveals  itself 
as  the  inevitable  operation  of  causes  beyond  our  control,  that 
there  are  some  professions  which  gather  to  themselves  in  the 
eye  of  society  a  pecuHar  dignity  and  a  special  influence.  I 
speak  of  facts  as  they  are — not  as  in  our  speculations  w^e  may 
imagine  they  ought  to  be.  A  bricklayer  and  a  lawyer,  equal 
in  other  respects  in  character,  are  not  equally  invested  with 
influence  from  their  respective  occupations.  There  is  in  all 
society,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  to  some  extent  a  grada- 
tion of  profession.  Some  are  invested  with  a  higher  influence 
and  deeper  hold  upon  the  minds  of  men  than  others.  And 
perhaps  it  is  impossible  wholly  to  change  this  order,  which 
society  has  itself  created,  by  its  own  spontaneous  operation. 
It  is  not  my  design,  however,  to  justify  the  fact,  but  in  part 
to  account  for  it,  and  trace  out  one  of  the  leading  influences, 
in  accordance  with  which  this  gradation  has  been  constnicted. 
In  the  main  then,  and  after  admitting  the  existence  of 
exceptions,  it  will  be  found  that  those  jDrofessions  which  are 
usually  held  in  the  highest  estimation  among  the  most  civil- 
ized nations,  are  those  which  are  more  purely  mental  in  their 
character.  In  the  ruder  states  of  society,  physical  attributes 
and  those  pursuits  which  nerved  the  arm  and  disciplined  the 
eye  and  invigorated  the  body,  held  the  foremost  rank.  The 
Achilleses,  and  Hectors,  and  Milos,  and  Groliahs,  and  Sam- 
sons, were  the  gi-eat  men  of  their  age  and  clime.  Although 
even  then  the  inspiration  of  the  poet  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
prophet  were  not  without  their  influence.  But  as  society 
advances  from  the  rude  to  the  refined,  and  civilization  en- 
larges its  boundaries,  mere  brute  force  loses  its  dignity,  and 
mind  usurps  its  place  and  bears  off"  its  crown.  Our  modern 
athletse — the  pugilists  of  the  nineteenth  century,  hold  a  very 
difierent  rank  from  that  of  their  famed  predecessors,  who  dis- 
played then*  muscular  energy  in  the  amphitheaters  of  Athens 
and  Home.     The  ancients  crowned  the  victors  with  the  ama- 


THE     SUPKEMACY     OF     MIND.  157 

rantli  and  seated  them  beside  their  kings  ;  we  dress  them  in 
fustian  and  send  them  to  the  penitentiaiy. 

With  the  advance  of  the  world  in  science  and  the  inven- 
tion of  new  modes  of  warfare,  a  new  order  of  occupation  has 
been  wrought  out,  and  been  followed  by  a  readjustment  of 
the  prizes  of  honor.  The  pursuits  and  tastes  of  men  become 
more  refined  and  intellectual ;  science  and  art  rise  into  gen- 
eral estimation.  Militaiy  tactics,  the  art  of  raj)id  and  skill- 
ful combination  of  force  in  war,  take  the  place  of  mere  phys- 
ical strength.  War  itself  becomes  a  science,  in  which  the 
master  intellect,  though  with  unequal  forces,  usually  remains 
the  victor.  While  what  are  termed  the  liberal  professions, 
the  pursuits  of  educated  mind,  rise  to  the  possession  of  com- 
manding influence  over  the  body  of  society. 

Extreme  cases  will  most  forcibly  illustrate  our  position. 
Take  then  a  hod  carrier  and  a  member  of  the  bar  or  the  med- 
ical board.  Indisputably  there  is  a  vast  difference  between 
the  spheres  of  influence  in  which  those  persons  move — a  dif- 
ference arising  from  the  fact  that  the  point  on  which  one  re- 
volves is  low  in  public  estimation,  while  that  of  the  other  is 
elevated.  Both  may  be  honest  and  even  good  men.  The  hod 
earner  may  be  equal  to  the  professional  man  in  native  intel- 
lect, and  he  may,  by  the  exercise  of  a  vigorous  mind,  some- 
times sway  the  greatest  influence  of  the  two.  But  if  so,  he 
can  only  do  it  in  spite  of  his  position,  and  ordinarily  without 
any  aid  from  it.  So  that  in  such  a  case  it  would  after  all  be 
the  outbreaking  of  great  mental  power,  which,  like  that  of 
Burns  and  Hogg,  imparted  to  its  possessor  large  influence  far 
beyond  his  own  circle.  Such  men  sometimes  burst  upon  so- 
ciety like  meteors  from  the  bosom  of  darkness  ;  the  more 
startling  as  they  are  unusual  and  unexpected.  While  their 
brilliancy  and  their  power  is  wholly  intellectual,  and  which, 
were  it  placed  in  a  higher  position,  would  usually  fill  a  vastly 
enlarged  sphere.  But  in  ordinary  cases,  the  influence  of  the 
one  is  limited,  compared  with  that  of  the  other,  and  limited 
by  the  position  he  occupies.  One  is  engaged  in  a  kind  of  labor 
that  demands  the  smallest  exercise  of  mind  ;  while  the  other 


158  LITERARY      ADDRESSES. 

is  called  to  the  investigation  of  questions  that  require  tlie  most 
patient  and  vigorous  efforts  of  the  human  intellect.  The  miner 
may  delve  in  the  earth  and  put  forth  little  more  mind  than  a 
burrowing  mole,  similarly  employed ;  while  the  student  tasks 
his  understanding  to  its  utmost  capacity  in  evolving  the  great 
princijiles  of  jurisiDrudence  or  the  pathology  of  disease  incident 
to  our  corporeal  frame.  Hence,  in  part  at  least,  for  there  are 
)ther  collateral  causes  combining  with  this  to  produce  the 
result,  the  latter  stands  before  the  community  in  a  high  and 
influential  position,  while  the  former  occupies  the  other  ex- 
treme. 

Now  as  in  these  cases  intellect  vindicates  its  dignity  and 
asserts  its  appropriate  position  in  the  estimation  of  cultivated 
society,  so  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  its  influence  can  be  seen 
in  deciding  upon  the  order  of  estimation  in  which  the  various 
occupations  of  men  are  actually  arranged.  The  posts  that 
demand  little  skill  and  intelligence,  usually  range  lowest ; 
while  as  greater  power  of  mind  is  requisite  to  fill  them  prop- 
erly, they  ascend  in  influence.  If  here  and  there  a  profession 
that  demands  great  abilities  is  undervalued,  it  is  so  ordinarily 
either  from  ignorance  of  the  fact  or  from  some  counteracting 
moral  cause.  But  in  the  main,  if  a  profession  requiring  great 
intellectual  power  be  honest  and  essential  to  the  comfort  and 
refinement  of  society,  it  will  in  time  take  and  maintain  its 
true  and  that  a  lofty  position  in  the  estimation  of  men.  Thus 
cultivated  intellect  arranges  the  gradation  of  human  pursuits, 
and  in  the  order  of  the  professions  displays  its  dignity  and 
commanding  power.  As  the  water  crystallizes  according  to  a 
certain  law,  upon  the  withdrawal  of  a  degree  of  heat,  so  so- 
ciety, upon  the  withdrawal  of  ignorance  and  brutishness, 
spontaneously  classifies  itself  according  to  a  law  of  intellec- 
tual power.  And  in  so  doing  there  is  evinced  alike  the  force 
and  native  dignity  of  the  human  mind. 

But  besides  the  aristocracy  of  profession,  in  this  general 
sense,  it  is  equally  true  and  equally  pertinent  to  our  subject, 
that  each  profession  and  trade  has  usually  its  own  aristocracy, 
formed  mainly  according  to  the  intellectual  power  of  its  mem- 


THE     SUPREMACY     OF     MIND.  159 

oers.  In  the  law,  and  medicine,  and  the  ministry,  there  are 
Ueights  of  professional  attainment — distinguished  minds  among 
a  multitude  of  laborious  minds  ;  stars  of  greater  magnitude 
and  brilliancy.  The  Blackstones  and  Burlamaquis  and  Mar- 
shalls — the  Harveys  and  Coopers  and  Rushes — the  Whitefields 
and  Edwardses  and  Halls  and  Griffins,  indicate  a  higher  order 
of  intellect  in  their  several  professions  than  the  mass  exhibit. 
So  it  is  with  your  merchant  princes — your  Hancocks  and 
Morrises  and  Bartletts  and  Jameses.  Each  profession  has  a 
wheel  within  a  wheel.  The  master  mechanic  has  reached  a 
post  which  demands  of  him  a  more  vigorous  intellect  than  is 
necessary  to  drive  the  plane  or  the  needle.  And  as  his  sphere 
of  intellectual  power  enlarges,  he  ascends  in  his  own  profes- 
sion to  a  point  of  increased  influence.  Thus  Whitney  and 
Arkwright  and  Fulton  and  Watt,  placed  themselves  as  arti- 
zans  upon  the  very  toj^most  heights  of  their  professions,  and 
graved  their  names  so  deep  and  legible  that  the  world  may 
read  them  for  centuries.  Thus  Reynolds  and  Chantrey  painted 
and  chiseled  their  way  up  to  the  loftiest  positions  open  to 
them — the  one  ennobled  as  the  prince  of  j)ainters,  the  other 
as  the  chief  of  stone-cutters.  It  was  the  outflashing  intellect, 
working  in  the  hand  of  the  mechanic,  scheming  in  the  brain 
of  the  merchant,  pleading  with  the  tongue  and  pen  of  the 
jurist  and  divine,  that  lit  up,  in  the  living  firmament,  this 
galaxy  of  lustrous  stars.  There  they  shine,  the  calm,  clear 
radiance  of  mind,  shedding  its  glory  over  the  face  of  human 
society  and  lighting  it  up  with  a  portion  of  the  splendor  of  a 
liigher  sphere.  In  all  these  illustrious  names — names  wiitten 
out 

"  On  the  living  sky 
To  be  for  ever  read  by  every  eye," 

there  is  a  testimony  to  the  dignity  and  force  of  mind,  which 
time  will  only  brighten,  never  obscure.  In  this  aspect  then 
of  the  aristocracy  of  the  professions,  as  well  as  from  all  the 
other  points  which  have  passed  under  our  view,  we  see  por- 
trayed most  vividly  the  elevating  power  of  mind. 


160  LITER  AKY     ADDRESSES. 

I  have  developed  this  train  of  thought  thus  at  length,  for 
the  purpose  of  evincing  to  you,  that  in  the  attainment  of 
many  of  the  highest  prizes  of  honorable  earthly  distinction,  a 
vigorous  and  cultivated  mind  is  not  an  unimportant  element 
of  success.  It  is  time,  however,  that  I  proceed  to  point  out 
to  you  some  of  the  various  applications  which  you  may  make 
of  the  knowledge  and  mental  discipline,  acquired  in  your  at- 
tendance upon  the  library  and  debates  and  lectures  of  this 
Association. 

The  most  prominent  object  to  which  a  cultivated  mind 
may  apply  its  powers,  is  tliat  j^'^^ofession  which  you  have 
chosen  as  a  means  of  honorable  subsistence.  There  is  a  dif- 
ference, as  I  have  already  remarked,  in  the  degi-ee  to  which 
different  occupations  task  the  intellect.  There  are  some  which 
necessitate  the  incessant  exercise  of  the  highest  powers  of  the 
mind.  There  are  others  which  allow,  without  requiring,  in- 
tellectual effort  in  a  high  degree.  To  plead  well — to  preach 
well — to  understand  the  pathology  of  disease,  a  man  must 
think  ;  but  he  may  sell  a  yard  of  tape  or  a  piece  of  goods, 
and  do  it  well,  without  much  mental  effort.  Admitting  then 
this  difference  in  the  absolute  requirements  of  different  pro- 
fessions, yet  it  should  be  remembered  that  most  of  these  allow 
the  exercise  of  large  abilities  and  a  well-stored  mind.  Let  us 
take  the  case  of  the  merchant  akeady  refen'ed  to.  It  may 
demand  no  great  amount  of  knowledge  to  be  an  expert  sales- 
man and  go  through  with  the  more  ordinary  parts  of  his  busi- 
ness, but  if  he  would  thoroughly  understand  his  profession 
and  carry  his  intellect  into  it,  he  will  find  a  thousand  things 
connected  with  it  that  may  give  scope  and  employment  for 
his  most  vigorous  powers.  Let  him  study  the  character  of 
the  articles  that  he  sells  ;  the  growth  of  their  materials  and 
the  method  of  their  construction.  He  may  investigate  the 
origin,  and  form  and  development  of  the  cotton  plant — the 
countries  that  produce  it — the  processes  by  which  the  staple 
is  prepared  for  the  factory — the  mode  in  which  it  is  spun  and 
woven  and  dyed,  until  it  comes  forth  the  beautiful  and  deli- 
cate fabric  fit  for  queenly  robes  ;  and  in  the  course  of  his  re- 


THE     SUPREMACY     OF     MIND.  161 

search  he  will  have  traversed  a  wide  field  of  knowledge,  and 
examined  some  of  the  most  interesting  inventions  of  the  age. 
And  in  this  waj  let  him  push  his  examinations  into  the  shawls 
of  Cashmere — the  teas  and  silks  of  China — tlie  gossamer  fab- 
rics of  the  land  of  the  gay  troubadour — the  woolens  and  cut- 
lery of  England — the  beautiful  products  of  the  looms  of  Tur- 
key and  Persia,  and  the  spices  of  Arabia,  and  he  will  soon 
find  himself  at  home  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Inventions 
and  arts  and  sciences  will  enlarge  his  mind,  and  crowd  it  with 
the  material  of  a  new  life  of  thought.  The  fabrics  that  once 
he  handled,  as  the  savage  the  telescope,  whose  construction 
was  to  him  a  perfect  mystery,  now  have  a  new  and  singular 
power  to  interest  and  quicken  his  intellect.  They  are  speak- 
ing volumes  of  rich  lore  ;  foreigners  from  a  thousand  climes, 
brino-ino;  with  them  a  thousand  new  and  wonderful  ideas. 
His  store  is  an  assemblage  of  the  mind  and  art  of  all  nations 
— a  specimen  gallery  of  the  productive  handiwork  of  the 
world.  From  its  , shelves  the  Turk  and  the  Persian  —  the 
Hindoo  and  the  Chinaman — the  Gaul  and  the  Briton — the 
Puritan  and  the  Cavalier  look  down  peacefuU}'  upon  him  and 
offer  their  contributions  to  his  intellectual  feast.  Gifted  with 
the  knowledge  of  which  we  have  spoken,  he  can  see  and  hear 
and  hold  communion  with  th  se  personages,  invisible  thougti 
they  be  to  the  leaden  vision  of  ignorance  and  sloth. 

And  besides  this  direction  of  study  and  thought,  if  he 
aims  to  become  an  accomplished  merchant,  he  must  investi- 
gate the  character  and  capacity  of  the  great  markets  of  the 
world — search  out  the  nature  and  the  extent  of  their  produc- 
tions ;  understand  the  physical  positions  and  commercial  re- 
lations of  various  nations,  their  exchanges,  tastes,  social  char- 
acter and  wants,  and  accustom  himself  to  survey  intelligently 
the  varying  aspects  of  commerce,  with  the  causes  at  work  to 
destroy  or  promote  its  prosperity.  The  young  merchant  who 
early  commences,  and  with  the  power  of  true  genius  perseveres 
in  such  a  course  of  investigation  and  such  an  application  of 
mental  power  to  his  own  profession,  without  question  will  in 
time  rise  to  a  high  rank  in  the  scale  of  intelligence,  and  build 

11 


162  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

for  Jiimself  a  character  more  truly  desirable  tlian  the  proudest 
fortune  ever  gathered  by  human  hands. 

Take  also  the  pursuits  of  the  farmer.  A  person  may  cul- 
tivate the  soil,  like  the  horse  in  a  cider-mill,  treading  the  same 
unvarying  circle  of  the  habits  and  maxims  of  his  fathers,  with 
scarcely  any  exercise  of  the  higher  powers  of  mind.  But  he 
may  also  apply  to  such  a  pursuit,  the  most  profound  re- 
searches into  the  nature  of  soils,  and  the  chemical  agents 
which  most  affect  the  growth  of  vegetable  life.  Since  the  era 
of  your  Buels  and  Wadsworths,  and  the  treatises  of  Liebig, 
book-farming  is  daily  growing  into  repute,  and  our  most  suc- 
cessful cultivators  of  the  soil,  other  things  being  equal,  are 
the  most  intelligent. 

In  respect  to  the  mechanic,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  re- 
mark, that  there  is  open  before  him  the  same  wide  field  for 
the  employment  of  mind.  If  he  would  be  among  the  most 
skillful  of  his  profession,  he  will  find  a  thousand  objects  to 
which  his  intelligence  may  be  applied  with  the  happiest  effect. 
If,  for  instance,  he  would  rise  to  the  character  of  a  jDcrfect  ar- 
chitect, then  in  the  beautiful  language  of  another,  he  "  must 
be  practically  acquainted  with  all  the  materials  of  building — 
wood,  brick,  mortar  and  stone  ;  he  must  have  the  courage  and 
skill  to  plant  his  moles  against  the  heaving  ocean,  and  to  hang 
his  ponderous  domes  and  gigantic  arches  in  the  air  ;  while  he 
must  have  taste  to  combine  the  rough  and  scattered  blocks  of 
the  quarry  into  beautiful  and  majestic  structures ;  and  discern 
clearly  in  his  mind's  eye,  before  a  sledge  hammer  has  been 
lifted,  the  elevation  of  the  temple." 

In  the  various  branches  of  mechanics,  also,  there  is  room 
for  almost  boundless  improvement.  In  all  probability  we 
have  not  yet  reached  the  heights  of  excellence  in  some  of  those 
branches  which  have  been  attained  in  the  past ;  which  now 
look  out  upon  us  from  the  vast  and  mysterious  pyramids  of 
the  Nile,  and  of  which  they  alone  remain  the  silent  memorials 
without  imparting  to  us  a  single  hint  that  would  enable  us  to 
discover  the  great  mechanical  agencies  by  which  thoy  were 
piled  up  to  heaven.     Nor  can  we  contemplate  the  triumphs 


THE     SUPREMACY     OF    MIND.  163 

of  a  Watt  and  a  Fulton,  without  feeling  that  the  mechanic 
is  upon  a  wide  and  unexplored  territory,  where  genius,  prop- 
erly trained  and  rightly  directed,  can  not  fail  of  discovering 
either  new  forces  or  new  methods  of  aj^plying  those  already 
known,  which  may  effect  great  changes  in  the  aspect  of  the 
world.  Surely  the  power  of  combining  afresh  the  various 
forces  of  nature  is  not  yet  exhausted.  Inventions  in  the  arts, 
advances  in  the  sciences,  improvements  in  machinery  that  are 
to  greatly  reduce  the  present  necessity  for  toil  and  produce,  of 
all  that  is  rich  and  beautiful  and  needful  for  human  luxury 
or  support,  a  much  larger  amount  in  projjortion  to  the  means 
employed,  seem  to  lie  just  ahead.  Perhaps  there  may  be 
among  you  some  mind  equally  capable,  with  that  of  Whitney, 
of  bringing  to  perfection  a  machine,  which,  in  its  ultimate  in- 
fluence upon  commerce,  may  far  surpass  his  world-famed  cotton 
gin  ;  or  a  mechanical  genius,  which,  like  that  of  Cartwright 
and  Fulton,  will  revolutionize  the  weaving  and  the  transpor- 
tation of  the  world.  Surrounded  by  such  a  creation,  with  the 
myriad  forces  of  nature  that  are  known  at  his  feet,  and,  it 
may  be,  many  yet  to  be  detected  by  the  prying  eye  of  genius 
on  every  side  of  him  ;  with  the  materials  for  working  up  to 
perfection  in  any  line  of  labor  he  may  choose,  let  no  young 
man  despair  of  a  successful  application  of  intelligence  to  his 
own  profession.  It  may  be  you  are  destitute  of  what  is  called 
genius.  But  what  is  genius  ?  Why,  to  some  minds  the 
embodiment  of  it  is  a  learned  blacksmith,  forging  metals  in 
his  smithy  eight  hours  a  day,  mastering  scores  of  languages, 
from  the  mellifluous  Italian  to  the  jagged  Sanscrit,  in  an 
equal  portion  of  time,  and  then  electrifying  large  audiences 
by  his  burning  words  and  gorgeous  imaginations.  To  others, 
a  misanthropic  poet,  with  bare  neck  and  bushy  hair,  is  the 
very  type  of  genius  ;  while  to  still  another  class  it  is  a  preg- 
nant creative  brain,  from  which,  like  that  of  Napoleon,  or 
Scott,  or  Chatham,  the  mighty  scheme  or  the  beautiful  image 
comes  forth  as  instantaneously  and  as  perfect  as  the  creation 
sprang  into  being  and  order  from  the  great  First  Cause. 

Now,  I  do  not  deny  that  there  are  intellects  by  nature  in- 


164  LITERARY     ADDRESSES, 

vested  with  greater  powers  of  invention  and  profound  thought 
than  others.  It  is  not  according  to  the  ordinary  rule  of  divine 
operations  to  create  a  dead  level  in  the  world  of  mind.  It  is 
an  opinion  in  strict  accordance  with  the  intellectual  j)henom- 
ena  of  the  race,  and  with  the  analogy  of  a  world,  on  every 
part  of  which  is  impressed  the  most  astonishing  diversity  of 
form,  weight,  and  color,  that  the  human  intellect,  like  the 
human  countenance,  has  always  its  own  native  characters  in 
some  of  its  lineaments  diverse  from  all  others — that  there  are 
men  who,  with  the  same  training  as  others,  will  yet  overtop 
the  multitude,  and  stride  with  amazing  rapidity  ujj  the  daz- 
zling heights  of  science.  But  while  it  seems  thus  clear  and 
natural  that  the  same  law  of  original  formation  should  prevail 
in  a  degree  in  the  world  of  mind  that  has  reigned  in  the  ma- 
terial creation,  we  yet  hold  that  the  great  mass  of  men  may 
possess  to  some  extent  that  power  which  constitutes  the  chief 
force  of  genius — the  poiver  of  mental  ajjplicatimi.  The  abil- 
ity to  hold  the  mind  steadily  and  long  to  any  given  subject 
until  you  have  viewed  it  in  all  its  parts  and  in  every  light,  is 
the  highest  attribute — the  prime  element  of  genius.  This 
power  is  one  susceptible  of  vast  increase  by  cultivation.  And 
the  man  who  has  the  ability  to  fix  his  attention  deeply  upon 
any  branch  or  toj)ic  of  scientific  pursuit,  has  the  great  element 
of  that  splendid  success  which  crowns  the  name  of  Newton 
with  imj^erishable  luster.  Let  every  young  man  seek  to  bring 
into  his  own  profession  all  the  intelligence  within  his  reach, 
and  though  he  may  not  win  a  place  in  the  constellation  of  the 
immortals,  he  will  nevertheless  elevate  that  profession  and 
command  the  resjiect  of  all  within  the  circle  of  his  acquaint- 
ance. 

I  have  a  friend,  who,  though  he  has  numbered  little  more 
than  thirty  summers,  has  contrived  in  the  midst  of  a  labori- 
ous life,  to  make  great  progi'ess  in  science.  Having  received 
a  good  academical  education,  he  early  entered  a  bookstore. 
Here,  in  the  midst  of  ceaseless  toil,  and  effecting  far  more 
than  most  men  in  their  own  line  of  business,  he  has  mastered 
several  foreign  languages — maintained  an  active  coiTes2)ond- 


THE     SUPREMACY     OF     MIND,  165 

ence  with  some  of  the  most  distinguished  literati  of  Europe — 
investigated  thoroughly  most  of  the  natural  sciences — gone 
up  into  the  heights  of  astronomy,  and  down  into  the  depths 
of  moral  philosophy,  and  made  himself  familiar  with  books 
of  all  kinds,  from  the  last  number  of  the  "Journal  of  Sci- 
ence" to  the  deep  solutions  of  the  "  Principia,"  and  the  sub- 
lime speculations  of  the  "  De  Natura  Deorum."  His  life  is 
one  incessant  development  of  the  idea  of  Industry.  No  hour 
— no  moment,  but  has  its  employment  ;  and  no  day  passes 
without  some  new  line  traced  out  on  the  canvas  of  his  life. 
Such  devotion,  wherever  it  is  found,  must  as  surely  work  out 
a  glorious  issue — a  fine  and  noble  development  of  the  intel- 
lectual man,  as  the  revolution  of  the  earth  brings  forth  the 
c;hanging  seasons.  Such  mental  application  would  encircle 
all  your  jjrofessions  with  intellectual  light,  and  open  in  the 
book  of  civilization  a  new  leaf  of  glory.  Remember  that  sci- 
ence and  art,  far  from  being  in  the  decrepitude  of  age,  we 
have  reason  to  believe,  are  yet  in  their  vigorous  youth  ;  and 
there  are  yet  to  be  ascended  eminences  of  intellectual  achieve- 
ment towering  into  the  everlasting  sunshine,  as  far  above  the 
past,  as  the  massive  pyramids  of  Pharaoh,  and  the  sublime 
dome  of  St.  Peter's,  exceed  in  vastness  and  beauty  the  log 
cabins  of  our  western  wilderness.  Let  each  one,  by  the  force 
of  his  intellect,  strive  to  enlarge  the  intelligence  and  elevate 
the  mind  of  his  own  profession,  and  society  will  feel  the  up- 
ward impulse  thrilling  to  her  lowest  extremities. 

Another  large  subject  for  the  application  of  your  intelli- 
gence, is  spread  out  before  you  in  the  relations  you  sustain 
to  our  civil  government.  There  is  a  proper  sense  in  which 
you  are  young  sovereigns.  You,  in  connection  with  your 
fellow- citizens,  are  the  ultimate  source  of  political  authority. 
Between  you  and  the  actual  legislation,  indeed,  there  inter- 
venes an  intelligent  instrumentality  ;  yet  it  is  equally  true, 
that  the  ballot-box  must  ultimately  sanction  their  acts,  or 
hurl  them  from  their  seats.  In  your  citizen  character,  you 
are  to  pass  upon  the  great  questions  of  state.  And  here 
there  is  open  for  you  a  subject  to  which  you  may  apply  the 


166  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

profoundest  reason — the  maturest  judgment — the  largest  in- 
telligence. Your  problems  of  commercial  restriction  and 
national  enlargement  in  the  acquisition  of  new  territory,  and 
a  currency  co-extensive  with  the  country,  and  others  like 
them,  which  our  state  and  national  progress  are  constantly 
presenting  to  us,  are  not  to  be  solved  by  a  mere  knowledge 
of  the  rule  of  three,  and  Webster's  spelling-book.  Profound 
questions,  demanding  clear  heads,  vigorous  powers  of  reason- 
ing, large  mental  acquisitions,  and  great  patience  in  the  col- 
lection of  facts,  for  their  settlement,  are  every  day  opening 
upon  us.  Where  in  ancient  or  modern  times  was  there  ever 
a  finer  field  for  the  application  of  the  general  intelligence  of 
the  people  ?  Sciolists  are  not  the  men  for  these  times.  We 
are  settling  precedents  that  are  to  reach  forward  for  ages.  In 
law  and  legislation — on  the  bench  and  in  the  senate  chamber, 
we  are  yet  busy  in  rearing  and  giving  perfection  to  the  struc- 
ture within  which  hundreds  of  millions  are  to  repose  or  perish. 
You  may  not  only  be  called  upon  to  work  uj)on  this  grander 
edifice  than  the  nations  have  yet  seen,  at  the  ballot-box,  but 
at  the  very  seat  of  legislation  itself  The  intelligence  of  our 
mechanics  and  merchants,  and  lawyers  and  physicians,  goes 
up  into  the  capitol ;  and  there  you  may  be  called  to  the  dis- 
charge of  duties  which  will  tax  all  the  might  of  the  mightiest 
mind.  In  view  of  these  high  duties,  history  with  all  its  thrill- 
ing pictures  of  thrones  and  aristocracies,  and  curule  chairs 
crumbled  by  the  hand  of  time,  stands  ready  to  teach  you  wis- 
dom ;  Grotius  and  Bacon,  Newton  and  Herschel,  flaming 
beacon  lights  of  law  and  science,  ever  shine  to  instruct  you  ; 
while  the  genius  of  the  past  and  the  present,  smiling  down 
upon  you  from  the  shelves  of  your  libraries,  pleads  with  you 
by  all  the  desolation  of  the  past  and  all  the  opening  glory  of 
the  future,  to  get  yourselves  in  readiness  for  the  work,  which 
your  position  inevitably  imposes  upon  you,  as  the  young  sov- 
ereigns of  the  model  nation  of  the  world. 

Nor  are  these  the  only  ways  in  which  your  intelligence 
may  advantageously  display  its  power  for  good.  There  is  a 
social  life  in  which  we  all  minole  and  which  we  must  sustain. 


THE     SUPREMACY     OF     MIND.  167 

Each  of  you  creates  for  himself,  or  enters  into  it  ah'eady 
created,  a  little  world,  where  the  mind  unrobes — where  wit 
and  sentiment,  and  discussion  exhibit  their  sweetest  attrac- 
tions— where  love  and  friendship  soften  the  sternness  engen- 
dered by  the  selfish  conflicts  of  life — where  intelligence  and 
refinement  shed  around  the  charm  of  a  perennial  verdure. 
There  is  one  little  world  where  the  tool  and  the  pen — the 
bond  and  mortgage — the  day-book  and  ledger  may  not  enter  ; 
but  where  social  nature  should  be  free  to  expand  itself  joy- 
ously over  the  interesting  circle.  Here  the  really  intelligent 
man  may  contribute  vitally  to  the  elevation  of  societ}^  It  is 
not  by  playing  the  pedant  and  ostentatiously  displaying  his 
mental  acquisitions,  but  by  an  influence  emanating  from  an 
enlightened  mind,  as  the  heat  from  the  fire,  diffusing  itself 
unseen,  while  it  warms  and  blesses.  Society  would  be  a  far 
more  elevating  school,  and  conversation  a  richer  feast — a  fuller 
flow  of  soul,  if  they,  who  gave  them  character,  knew  and 
acted  on  the  principle,  that  whatever  may  be  the  outward 
fashion,  "  the  mind's  the  gold  for  a'  that." 

There  is  still  another  subject  for  the  application  of  your 
intelligence  which  can  not  be  passed  by.  There  is  an  aristoc- 
racy of  virtue,  as  well  as  of  mind.  Without  it,  intelligence 
is  itself  only  a  blind  force,  such  as  Milton  has  embodied  in 
his  gigantic  creation  of  the  prince  of  fallen  angels.  Without 
it  no  man  is  perfect.  Reason  is  God-like,  but  true  religion 
in  the  heart  is  more  truly  Deity  itself  The  intellect  is  a 
prince,  wisdom  is  noble — 

"  Tet  this  great  empress  of  the  human  soul, 
Does  only  with  imagined  power  control, 
If  restless  passion,  by  rebellion's  sway, 
Compels  the  weak  usurper  to  obey." 

If  you  would  be  a  man  in  all  his  nobler  characteristics, 
then  the  heart  must  beat  true  to  every  right  afiection.  In- 
tellectually no  person  is  perfect,  who  is  the  slave  of  vice. 
There  is  a  cog  broken  out  of  the  wheel ;  there  is  a  mental 
weakness  which  reveals  itself  in  the  loftiest  intellects  of  this 
class,  the  world  has  ever  seen. 


168  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

Here,  too,  in  religiou  are  found  the  deepest  questions — 
vital  to  our  highest  interests,  and  profound  bej^ond  the  long- 
est line  of  mortals.  Here  Socrates  reasoned,  and  Plato  specu- 
lated, and  Cicero  put  forth  the  powers  of  his  philosophic 
mind.  Here  Bacon  toiled,  and  Newton  studied,  and  Locke 
sank  his  shaft  of  thought  deep  into  this  mine  of  truth.  It  is 
the  grandest  subject  for  the  application  of  the  most  consum- 
mate intelligence.  It  involves  the  past,  the  present,  the  fu- 
ture. It  carries  us  back  to  the  birth  of  creation  ;  it  conducts 
us  onward  over  all  the  intervening  centuries,  through  all  that 
is  most  deeply  interesting  in  the  changing  history  of  the 
world  ;  it  pierces  the  future  and  opens  into  the  distant 
depths  of  eternity  vistas  of  immortality.  No  man  is  edu- 
cated who  is  either  ignorant  or  unsettled  here.  Some  of  the 
otherwise  finest  intellects  our  country,  or  the  world  can  boast, 
have  left  behind  them  an  imperfect  fame — a  character  dis- 
torted— a  genius  sullied  by  vice,  or  darkened  by  skepticism. 
The  memory  of  such  men  has  no  fragrance.  Their  intellectual 
might  awakens  our  astonishment  at  its  greatness,  and  our 
regret  at  its  abuse.  We  may  admire  the  force  of  their  genius, 
but  we  can  never  render  them  .the  tribute  of  affectionate  re- 
spect. No  man  can  neglect  so  sublime  a  subject  of  thought, 
or  one  which  involves  such  tremendous  issues  as  religion, 
without  so  far  forfeiting  his  claim  to  the  character  of  an  in- 
telligent and  thoroughly  educated  member  of  society.  And 
every  young  man  especially,  should  bring  to  it  all  the  force  of 
the  profoundest  intelligence  within  his  reach,  lest  the  skeptic 
fling  him  into  a  morass  where  he  will  struggle  only  to  sink, 
or  the  fanatic  kindle  in  his  bosom  the  meteor  blaze  that 
heralds  the  blackest  night  of  darkness.  In  the  attainment 
of  well-settled,  robust,  and  profound  views  on  these  high 
themes,  you  need  to  invigorate  your  intellect  and  lay  its 
proudest  offerings  on  this  altar  of  noblest  truth. 

Young  Gentlemen — 

This  institution  was  originated,  these  doors  were  opened, 
and  your  library  was  gathered  to  develop  and  enrich  mind 


THE     SUPEEMACY     OF     MIND.  169 

— the  young  mind  of  this  city.  Thus  far  it  has  nobly  ful- 
filled this  design.  From  the  past  action  of  this  and  kindred 
associations,  their  utility  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  experiment. 
Long  ago  they  have  fully  established  their  claims  to  the  good 
wishes  of  the  old  and  the  energetic  support  of  the  young. 
They  have  called  into  action  some  of  the  best  minds  of  the 
nation.  They  have  formed  new  points  and  orbits,  upon  and 
within  which  the  educated  mind  of  the  country  might  re- 
volve. They  have  signally  promoted  the  healthful  inter- 
change of  literary  men  ;  spreading  their  influence,  and  giving 
scope  to  their  talents  in  fields  far  removed  from  their  own 
firesides.  They  have  provided  fur  our  citizens  occasions  on 
which  they  might  listen  without  trouble,  and  at  the  most 
trifling  exjjense,  to  lessons  of  wisdom  from  the  most  brilliant 
and  gifted  intellects  in  the  range  of  our  common  country. 
They  have  given  to  society  discussions  of  deep  interest  on  a 
vast  variety  of  subjects.  They  have  organized  into  healthful 
and  united  action  much  of  the  young  mind  of  the  nation. 
They  have  done  more  than  amuse  it  They  have  come  in  to 
the  aid  of  other  conservative  influences,  in  rousing  it  to  right 
action,  in  cultivating  scientific  tendencies,  in  substituting  for 
the  vulgar  wit  of  the  bar  room  and  the  indecency  and  dissi- 
pation of  the  theater,  the  miscellaneous  intelligence  of  the 
reading  room,  the  learning  of  the  library,  and  the  calm  and 
pure  excitement  of  the  lecture.  They  have  both  stimulated 
mind  and  opened  the  field  on  which  it  might  expatiate.  They 
have  nourished  genius  ;  thrown  open  to  the  youth  panting 
for  knowledge,  the  embalmed  mental  treasures  of  every  age  ; 
and  made  the  world's  jewels  common  to  all.  In  themselves 
they  are  not  a  substitute  for  the  school  or  the  academy.  But 
their  influence  is  all  in  harmony  with  the  noblest  institutions 
of  our  country,  conservative  of  law,  morality  and  religion, 
lending  a  brighter  tint  to  society,  and  imparting  new  dignity 
to  the  various  professions  of  life.  The  lecture  room  may  not 
be  the  place  for  the  acquisition  of  the  profoundest  views  of 
science  ;  but  surely  it  stimulates  the  mind  to  work  out  in  its 
own  silent  laboratory  tlie  largest  intelligence.     It  can  not 


170  LITEKARY      ADDRESSES, 

take  the  place  of  self-action,  but  it  has  a  powerful  influence 
to  rouse  us  to  such  action.  It  can  not  make  a  man,  but  it 
can  encourage  the  young  by  their  own  patient  toil  to  reach 
up  to  the  stature  of  men.  Society  needs  a  thousand  influ- 
ences to  develoj)  and  train  up  its  hidden  mind.  In  all  ages 
of  the  world  it  has  sought  for  either  animal  or  intellectual 
excitement.  Its  thirst  for  amusement  of  some  kind,  is  seen 
in  the  festive  days  and  games  of  the  Greek — the  saturnalia 
and  the  gladiatorial  exhibitions  of  the  Koman — the  theater, 
and  bull  fights,  and  races  of  the  Moderns.  And  it  has  been 
for  ages  a  problem  for  the  wise  to  solve,  so  to  control  and 
guide  this  feverish  love  of  excitement,  as  to  redeem  it  from 
its  brutalizing,  its  enervating  influence,  and  enlist  it  as  an 
efficient  aid  in  the  moral  and  intellectual  renovation  of  so- 
ciety. To  some  extent  your  associations  solve,  that  problem. 
They  minister  to  this  love  of  excitement  a  healthful  food. 
They  attempt  not  to  repress,  but  to  guide  it  to  noble  and 
elevating  ends.  They  have  thus  established  for  themselves  a 
position  of  power  from  which  they  could  not  be  shaken,  with- 
out casting  down  a  bright  orb  from  our  winter  skies.  While 
they  remain  as  they  are  now,  religion  and  morality  lend  them 
their  hallowed  sanction  ;  while  every  well  wisher  to  the  youth 
of  our  cities,  rejoices  in  their  success.  Could  there  be  found 
one  with  views  so  low  and  soul  so  contracted,  as  to  refuse  his 
aid  to  sustain  you,  or  carj)  at  your  noble  mission  to  the  young 
mind  of  our  land,  to  such  might  we  address  with  all  propriety, 
the  scathing  rebuke  of  the  poet — 

"  Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead  ? — 
If  such  there  breathe,  go,  mark  hhn  well ; 
For  him  uo  minstrel  raptures  swell, 
Proud  though  his  title,  high  his  fame, 
Boundless  his  wealth,  as  wish  could  claim 
In  spite  of  title,  power  and  pelf 
The  wretch,  concentered  all  in  self) 
Living,  shall  forfeit  fair  renown, 
And  doubly  dying  shall  go  down 
To  the  vile  earth  from  whence  he  sprung, 
Unwept,  unhonored  and  unsung."     * 


YI. 

SECULAR  AND  CHRISTIAN  CIVILIZATION* 

It  is  among  the  advantages  of  these  anniversary  gather- 
ings, that  while  they  bring  together  men  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion— men  who  are  laboring  with  energy  and  far-reaching 
purpose  to  create  the  most  elevated  form  of  civilization — they 
also  afford  the  occasion  for  discussions  of  a  wider  range  than 
those  which  belong  to  the  ordinary  routine  of  professional 
employment.  Education  herself  is  the  beneficent  mother  of 
all  true  and  noble  thought.  Allying  herself  exclusively  to  no 
one  profession  or  department  of  life,  she  ministers  of  her  full- 
ness to  all  the  liberal  and  the  useful.  She  prepares  the  foun- 
dations on  which  they  are  to  build  ;  embraces  their  future 
work  in  the  scope  of  her  early  labor  ;  and  seeks  to  fashion 
men  who  in  different  spheres  will  ajjply  to  noble  ends  the 
powers  she  has  disciplined.  Her  sympathies  are  with  all  la- 
borers in  the  field  of  science,  whether  they  toil  as  obscure 
miners  in  the  hidden  veins  of  thought,  after  long  years  aston- 
ishing the  world  with  the  rich  ore  they  have  discovered  ;  or 
in  the  mint  and  the  bank  they  coin  and  circulate  the  sterling 
products  of  the  mind.  Her  sons,  as  they  meet  within  her 
temple  on  these  festive  occasions,  do  her  most  fitting  homage, 
when,  rising  above  the  distinctions  wrought  out  by  the  divis- 
ion of  labor,  they  stand  as  brethren  on  the  common  platform 
of  that  science  which  belongs  alike  to  all ;  when,  forgetful  of 
minor  differences,  they  recognize  only  this  center  of  union 
and  sympathy,  and,  ungirding  themselves  from  the  stern  con- 
flicts of  life,  indulge  those  kindly  feelings  which  the  associa- 

*  An  address  delivered  before  the  Calliopean  Society  'of  Wabasli  College, 
July  23,  1850. 


172  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

tions  of  the  past,  the  sight  of  the  present,  and  the  anticipations 
of  the  future  are  adapted  to  inspire. 

They,  too,  who  on  these  occasions  are  called  to  address 
their  fellow-laborers  in  the  field  of  knowledge,  can  scarcely 
present  a  fitter  offering  than  those  discussions  for  which  their 
particular  pursuits  may  have  qualified  them — discussions  of 
topics  not  commonly  dwelt  upon  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
professional  labor,  yet  often  of  deep  interest  and  wide  influ- 
ence. Of  Education  itself,  at  such  a  seat  of  science,  where 
the  living  minds  it  hath  trained  stand  before  you,  and  the 
voices  of  the  young  champions  of  truth  it  hath  j)repared  for 
the  work  of  life  ring  in  yours  ears,  discussion  would  be  super- 
fluous. This  very  institution  is  its  own  eulogium ;  and  these 
its  sous,  full  of  devotion  to  science,  will  abundantly  vindicate 
its  excellence  and  extend  its  fame. 

Called  to  address  you  from  the  midst  of  onerous  profes- 
sional labors,  you  will  permit  me  to  select  a  topic  related 
more  partit;ularly  to  my  own  department  of  science — which, 
while  it  is  comprehensive  of  all  literature,  art,  and  knowledge, 
yet  belongs  emphatically  to  that  truth  which,  as  a  trunk, 
bears  the  branches  and  connects  them  with  the  Author  of  all 
things.  I  proj^ose  for  your  consideration  a  few  observations 
on  the  various  experiments  in  civilization,  the  forces  essential 
to  the  highest  style  of  civilization,  and  the  purpose  of  God 
in  the  permission  of  so  many  seemingly  abortive  trials. 

To  one  who  looks  out  upon  the  w^orld  as  it  is,  and  back 
upon  it  as  it  has  been,  the  scene  presented  is  the  most  in- 
volved and  contradictory  imaginable.  Instead  of  flattering 
the  jDride  of  man,  or  inferring  for  him  a  glorious  destiny,  it  is 
full  of  pictures  the  most  humiliating,  of  facts  the  most  mourn- 
ful. Amidst  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations,  the  spread  and  decay 
of  art  and  science,  he  seeks  for  some  clue  to  thread  the  laby- 
rinth, and  discover  the  divine  purpose  around  which  these 
opposite  results  may  harmonize.  The  Deluge  is  there,  en- 
gulfing a  quarter  of  the  life  of  the  race ;  the  ocean  rolls  over 
all  the  earliest  civilization  of  the  world.  Then  follow  the 
Dispersion,  the  creation  of  new  forms  of  speech,  the  forma- 


SECULAR    AND    CHRISTIAN    CIVILIZATION,     173 

tion  and  development  of  many  and  various  nations,  their  as- 
cent to  power  and  civilization,  and  their  mysterious  return  to 
the  oblivion  from  which  they  sprung.  These  form  a  problem, 
the  solution  of  which  he  seeks  in  vain.  To  effect  what  great 
purpose  have  Asia,  Europe,  and  Africa  been  the  seats,  now 
of  barbarism,  then  of  civilization,  interchanging  from  century 
to  century  ?  For  what  purpose  these  forms  of  government, 
ranging  from  absolute  monarchy  down  to  simple  democracy  ; 
forms  of  religion  descending  from  the  pure  theism  of  Noah  to 
the  reptile  worship  of  Egypt,  and  then  ascending  to  Chris- 
tianity '?  Forms  of  government,  too,  in  religion,  from  the 
pontifex  maximus  of  Rome  through  hierarchies  and  synods 
to  the  anti-formism  of  George  Fox  ?  Here  are  vast  moral 
forces  at  work  for  long  ages,  in  ways  innumerable,  resulting 
in  developments  the  most  diverse  and  varied ;  experiments 
conducted  on  a  scale  of  surprising  grandeur,  both  in  respect 
to  the  long  periods  occupied,  the  numbers  engaged  in  working 
them  out,  and  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  concerned. 
What,  then,  is  the  final  purpose  of  all  this  life  so  indus- 
triously at  work  for  six  thousand  years  ?  The  question  is 
not,  what  results  does  a  single  one  of  these  forces  effect,  but 
what  is  the  grand  resultant  into  which  all  those  trials  are  to 
be  resolved  ?  What  lesson  is  the  universe  to  be  taught  ? 
What  preparation  is  here  made  for  a  nobler  civilization  than 
the  world  has  ever  seen  ? 

There  are  those  who  regard  all  these  as  fortuitous  occur- 
rences. As  the  seed  borne  by  the  wind  now  falls  in  the  cleft 
of  the  rock,  and  now  in  the  rich  valley,  germinating  in  the 
one  case  a  tree  stunted  and  deformed,  in  the  other  a  noble 
specimen  of  vegetable  life,  so  has  the  race  of  man  colonized, 
formed  governments,  built  cities,  warred,  conquered,  decayed. 
The  laws  which  control  the  movements  of  nations  are  isolated, 
individual.  History  has  no  central  chain  along  which  all  its 
facts  crystallize  ;  the  parts  are  connected  together,  if  at  all, 
by  loose  contact,  as  stones  in  a  vessel,  not  as  the  corn  in  the 
ear,  with  the  germ  in  the  earth  from  whence  it  came.  To 
this  unscientific  and  atheistic  hypothesis  we  make  no  specific 


174  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

reply.  Its  defenders  can  not  consistently  liold  to  the  provi- 
dential government  of  One  infinitely  wise  ;  and  denying  that, 
conviction  is  to  reach  them  by  other  means  than  discussions 
of  this  character. 

Others,  reflecting  more  deeply  on  these  subjects,  have 
adopted  a  very  diiferent  theory — a  theory  of  progress,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  world,  by  these  successive  stages  of  discipline, 
has  been  advancing  from  infancy  to  manhood,  and  is  destined 
to  reach,  at  length,  the  full  stature  of  a  perfect  society.  The 
past  contributes  to  the  present ;  thought,  knowledge,  never 
die  ;  nations  may  decay,  may  cease  to  exist,  but  that  which 
is  of  value  to  man,  gained  by  their  experience,  survives  ;  it 
passes  over  to  their  successors  ;  it  becomes  an  element  of  im- 
provement ;  it  grows  itself  in  power,  and  then  is  delivered 
over  to  succeeding  generations.  The  life  of  the  race  is  thus  a 
stream,  widening  and  deepening  as  it  flows,  gathering  upon  its 
bosom  all  manner  of  rich  craft,  and  laving  the  shores  of  Time 
with  fertility  and  blessing.  Man  is  on  the  whole  rising  ;  the 
world  is  gaining  in  knowledge — in  religion — in  all  the  ele- 
ments of  a  complete  civilization.  If  his  life  is  not  cut  short 
too  soon,  if  the  conflagration  can  only  be  deferred  to  some  far 
distant  future,  we  may  anticipate  his  elevation  to  a  more 
than  paradisiacal  perfection.  This  is  a  most  beautiful  theory. 
It  is  full  of  hope,  sanguine  of  good,  replete  with  glorious 
visions.  Over  that  grand  future  which  it  declares  is  coming 
on,  imagination,  restrained  no  longer  by  the  stern  facts  of  the 
past,  is  free  to  spread  her  wings,  and  poetry  here  can  create  a 
world  of  beauty,  in  the  full  assurance  that  it  will  yet  become 
a  substantial  reality. 

This  theory  we  accept  so  far  as  to  adopt  two  of  its  leading 
ideas  ;  we  reject  it  so  far  as  it  pretends  to  give  the  philosophy 
of  these  changes  in  history,  the  purpose  of  God  in  their  per- 
mission, and  the  precise  mode  in  which  the  elevation  of  man 
is  to  be  accomplished.  Unquestionably  the  end  contemplated 
by  this  theory — a  far  higher  and  nobler  style  of  civilization 
than  any  yet  attained — is  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  an- 
nunciations  of  prophecy — with  those   brilliant   pictures  of 


SECULAR    AND    CHRISTIAN    CIVILIZATION.      175 

times  yet  to  come  drawn  by  inspired  pencils,  and  distancing 
in  their  grandeur  the  sublimest  conceptions  of  mere  worldly 
philosophy  or  poetry.  Nor  is  it  to  be  denied  that  the  past  is 
made  to  contribute  to  the  progress  and  perfection  of  the  pres- 
ent, as  it  will  to  that  of  the  future.  But  with  this  admitted, 
it  is  equally  certain  that  the  elevation  of  men  is  not  to  be  se- 
cured chiefly  by  the  increase  of  knowledge  flowing  from  the 
various  experiments  of  history,  and  so  creating  a  new  and 
pure  atmosphere  around  society.  Neither  in  the  past,  nor  in 
any  of  the  laws  that  connect  us  with  it,  is  there  j)ower  suffi- 
cient to  warrant  the  supposition  that,  through  the  gradual 
advance  of  century  after  century,  the  race,  becoming  generally 
and  thoroughly  enlightened,  would,  in  time,  work  itself  clear 
of  all  its  social  evils,  and  attain  an  elevation  of  perpetual 
purity  and  peace.  Whatever  homoeopathy  may  accomplish 
in  medicine,  we  are  sure  that  in  respect  to  human  progress  it 
is  of  little  avail — that  it  needs  mightier  forces  than  these  mi- 
nute contributions,  saved  from  the  wreck  of  nations,  to  pre- 
serve others  from  a  similar  fate,  and  lift  them  to  a  nobler 
destiny.  Surely  it  is  not  alone  for  these  slight  advantages 
that  mighty  kingdoms  have  flourished  and  decayed  ;  that  the 
world  presents  to  us  such  magnificent  experiments  ending  in 
failures  so  disastrous.  If  the  life  of  the  race  may  be  likened 
to  a  river,  it  is  a  river  now  deep,  then  shallow  ;  now  broad, 
then  narrow  ;  now  dashing  in  cataracts,  then  creeping  slug- 
gishly ;  now  swelling  over  its  banks,  then  almost  losing  itself 
in  wide-spreading  saharas. 

In  this  discussion  it  will  aid  us  to  have  present  a  definite 
idea  of  that  highest  style  of  civilization  toward  which  the 
world  is  advancing.     This  involves  five  things. 

1.  Bread.  Food  and  raiment  in  abundance,  with  only  an 
amount  of  physical  labor  consistent  with  advancement  in 
other  respects,  is  a  radical  idea  of  all  true  civilization.  A 
state  in  which  multitudes  are  compelled  to  live  at  the  lowest 
point  of  physical  endurance,  where  the  brawniest  arms  and 
the  most  skillful  hands  alone  earn  a  fair  livelihood,  while  the 
weak  and  the  less  ingenious  stand  ever  on  the  threshold  of 


176  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

starvation — such  a  state,  no  matter  what  other  advantage  it 
may  possess,  or  how  many  may  roll  in  luxury,  or  what  argo- 
sies it  may  send  forth  on  the  broad  ocean,  is  yet  deficient  in 
the  first  elements  of  a  true  civilization.  That  is  elevation 
above  the  savage  ;  this  is  depression  in  one  point  below  him. 

2.  Freedom.  The  liberty  of  self-government  and  self- 
advancement,  with  only  such  restraints  as  are  indispensable 
to  the  secure  enjoyment  of  that  which  we  attain,  and  which, 
therefore,  really  quicken  men  to  action  by  the  stimulus  of  a 
sure  reward,  belong  to  the  condition  we  are  now  contemplat- 
ing. A  civilization  in  strata — a  sort  of  geological  civilization, 
with  all  the  soil  and  the  verdure,  and  the  fruits  and  the  beauty 
above,  and  all  the  sand  and  stones  below,  is  far  removed  from 
our  ideal  of  a  perfect  state.  Despotism  can  never  consist  with 
this  condition,  unless  the  despot  be  himself  the  noblest  being 
in  the  universe.  Without  the  ability  to  rise  through  all  gra- 
dations of  soceity  ;  without  an  open  pathway  to  the  highest 
positions  from  the  very  lowest,  in  a  world  like  ours  there 
never  can  be  realized  the  purest  form  of  national  life. 

3.  Knowledge.  Into  this  civilization  there  enter  science 
and  art,  the  study  of  all  that  is  beautiful  and  excellent  in  na- 
ture, the  production  of  forms  of  beauty  and  grandeur,  of 
those  innumerable  instruments  by  which  the  taste  is  gratified, 
labor  diminished,  the  comforts  of  life  increased,  and  distant 
regions  approximated.  These  advantages  of  knowledge,  no 
longer  confined  to  a  limited  circle,  are  diffused  through  the 
whole  of  society,  dignifying  the  lowly  and  enriching  the  poor. 

4.  Social  peace  and  harmony.  War,  which  a  philoso- 
pher of  note  afiirms  is  the  natural  state  of  man,  is  wholly 
foreign  to  this  noble  condition  of  society.  With  the  exclu- 
sion of  all  social  institutions  that  exalt  one  at  the  expense  of 
another,  the  leading  external  causes  of  strife  are  banished. 
With  equal  privileges,  the  motives  to  discord  are  greatly  re- 
duced. That  civilization  is  confessedly  most  imperfect,  in 
which  the  most  attractive  music  is  the  clash  of  swords  and 
the  roar  of  artillery  ;  where  the  camp  and  the  court-room, 
the  arsenal  and  the  jail,  stand  in  the  front  rank  of  society. 


SECULAR     AND     CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.       177 

That,  state  lias  risen  to  a  most  noble  position,  in  whicli  the 
prevalence  of  peaceful  arts,  humane  dispositions,  and  enlarged 
views  have  banished  the  drum  and  the  war-horse,  and  turned 
the  court-room  into  a  stage  for  the  quiet  arbitration  of  diffi- 
culties. 

5.  Pure  religious  faith.  This  quality  of  civilization,  al- 
though not  visible,  is  yet  the  secret  spring  of  all  its  goodness. 
Without  elevated  affections,  healthfully  developed  toward 
Grod,  and  spreading  themselves  benevolently  among  men,  so- 
ciety can  never  attain  completeness.  The  education  of  the 
heart  in  all  excellence  ;  the  communication  of  those  princi- 
ples of  faith  by  which  a  soul  is  anchored,  so  that  no  storm  of 
passion,  no  currents  of  selfishness  can  bear  it  off  into  licen- 
tious indulgence  ;  the  indwelling  of  divine  influences,  of  G-od 
himself  as  a  sovereign  and  father  in  the  heart,  ever  saying  to 
its  native  turbulence,  "  jieace,  be  still  ;" — these  constitute  an 
element  of  popular  prosperity,  often  overlooked,  but  neverthe- 
less the  most  essential  power  in  the  whole  social  system.  These 
five  things — bread,  freedom,  knowledge,  social  harmony,  and 
a  pure  faith — are  the  leading  elements  of  that  complete  destiny 
to  which  the  race  is  advancing. 

Now,  when  it  is  affirmed  that  man  hitherto  has  lived  as 
the  infant,  the  child,  the  youth  ;  that  this  being  the  case,  the 
jiast  experiments  and  attainments  of  the  world  are  furnishing 
the  secret  poAver  by  which  he  will  be  enabled  to  ascend  to  his 
true  position,  and  attain  his  perfect  manhood,  and  rise  to  the 
highest  civilization,  we  think  too  much  plastic  power  is  at- 
tributed to  the  jDast,  and  that  the  theory  fails  to  assign  a  suffi- 
cient reason  for  the  remarkable  changes  to  which  the  race  has 
been  subject.  It  is  indeed  surprising  how  comparatively  trif- 
ling, so  far  as  we  can  see,  are  the  contributions  of  the  first 
half  of  the  life  of  man  to  his  growth  at  this  day.  The  his- 
tory of  the  first  three  thousand  years  is  written  somewhere, 
and  will  doubtless  yet  be  read  by  us  ;  but  for  man,  while  here 
on  the  earth,  there  remain  only  a  few  hieroglyphics  to  indi- 
cate the  scenes,  the  institutions,  the  changes,  the  attainments 
of  ages  in  time  and  innumerable  millions  of  people.     So  far 

12 


178 


L  I  T  E  K  A  R  Y     ADDRESSES, 


is  it  from  being  true,  as  a  universal  statement,  that  no  good 
thought  or  art  has  perished — that  all  useful  knowledge  re- 
mains when  the  nation  decays,  and  passes  over  to  some  other 
heritor — that  the  very  o|)posite  assertion  is  most  probably 
correct.  Certainly  the  advocates  of  this  opinion  can  never 
prove  it,  while  there  are  strong  probabilities,  lising  even  to 
certainties,  that  there  have  been  periods  in  the  world  when 
the  most  profound  national  ignorance  succeeded  the  most 
brilliant  attainments  ;  that  it  seems  to  have  been  a  part  of 
the  divine  plan  that  many  nations  should  woik  out  for  them- 
selves their  own  elevation  or  degradation,  with  little  assistance 
from  the  past  or  their  cotemporaries  ;  and  that  there  are  now 
hidden  from  our  eyes  histories,  and  achievements,  and  sciences 
belonging  to  the  past,  that,  once  unfolded,  would  thrill  through 
the  heart  of  universal  man.  Authentic  history,  if  we  except 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  hardly  reaches  back  twenty-five  cen- 
turies. Yet  how  immensely  valuable,  how  intensely  interest- 
ing, in  all  probability,  would  be  the  records  of  the  preceding 
period  !  What  remains  to  the  world  of  antediluvian  civiliza- 
tion .?  What  record  declares  the  form  and  results  of  that 
postdiluvian  empire  in  central  Asia,  to  which  so  many  other- 
wise unaccountable  facts  seem  to  point  ?  What  knowledge 
of  Egypt  .^  We  have  her  Zodiacal  circle,  her  solemn  and 
gloomy  temples,  her  pyramids  standing  sentinel  over  buried 
(empires,  her  mummies  and  hieroglyphics.  But  in  wdiat  man- 
ner, in  what  state  of  society,  were  those  pyramids  reared  ? 
Who  understands  the  mysteries  of  Isis — mysteries  which,  like 
those  of  Eleusis,  sent  forth  a  mighty  influence  upon  both 
prince  and  people  .^  It  is  even  yet  in  disj)ute  what  elements 
of  knowledge  and  religion  Egypt  gave  to  Greece,  or  whether 
that  queen  of  the  nations  is  indebted  for  a  single  pearl  in  her 
coronal  to  this  ancient  monarch  of  the  Nile.  What  knowl- 
edge of  Assyria  and  Babylon  ?  A  torn  leaf  of  a  splendid  ro- 
mance ;  a  few  admirable  sculptures,  exhumed  by  the  patient 
enthusiasm  of  Layard  ;  a  few  brief  sketches  in  the  sacred 
volume  ;  two  or  three  half  fabulous  chapters  of  profane  his- 
tory, arc  all  that  remain  of  those   once  the  most  magnifi- 


SECULAR     AND     CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.       179 

c;orit  and  powerful  kingdoms  on  the  globe,  confessedly  far  ad- 
vanced in  civilization,  and  inferior  to  no  otlier  nations  of  their 
time  in  art  and  science.  There  is  in  the  quarry  at  Baalbec,  a 
stone  seventy  feet  in  length,  fourteen  high,  and  fourteen  broad, 
hewn  ready  for  removal.  By  what  means  they  transported  such 
immense  masses,  antiquity  informs  us  not.  Etniria,  Phoenicia, 
and  her  fair  daughter  Carthage,  what  have  they  given  to  the 
world  in  comparison  with  their  age,  their  grandeur,  and  their 
attainments,  as  an  element  of  power  to  assist  in  working  out  its 
final  elevation  "^  Their  temples  and  palaces — the  productions 
of  their  poets,  orators,  philosophers,  and  statesmen — their  me- 
chanic arts  and  j)ractical  sciences,  have  all  gone  down  into 
oblivion.  What  art  can  now  dye  the  Tyrian  pm^ple  '?  Nay, 
who  can  discover  that  modern  secret — the  mode  in  which  the 
artist  of  the  middle  ages  stained  in  such  exquisite  tints  the  win- 
dows of  cathedrals  and  abbeys  in  Europe  .^  Who  can  restore  the 
four  hundred  thousand  volumes  destroyed  by  the  soldiers  of 
Omar  in  the  capture  of  Alexandria  .^  Where  are  the  lost  books 
of  Solomon,  of  Livy,  of  innumerable  authors,  the  natm-alists, 
historians,  philosophers,  theologians  of  their  day  ?  Where 
are  now  the  treasures  of  Arabian  literature — of  that  Augus- 
tan age  when,  at  Bagdad  and  Cordova,  learning  flourished 
gi-een  and  rich  in  fruits  most  jirecious,  at  the  very  time  its 
stock  laid  withered  to  the  root  in  Eome  and  Athens  ?  The 
Almansars  and  Abd-Alrachmans  of  the  East  and  the  West 
have  left  no  successors ;  while  their  splendid  libraries,  scat- 
tered to  the  winds  or  hidden  within  the  palaces  of  ignorant 
pachas,  are  lost  to  the  world. 

As  we  approach  our  own  times,  it  is  easy  to  trace  the  in- 
fluence of  two  nations  upon  the  literature  of  our  day.  Grecian 
taste  and  Koman  law  reveal  themselves  clearly  enough  in  mod- 
ern society.  Yet  on  this  subject  we  venture  two  assertions. 
Tlie  first,  that  the  chief  element  of  the  more  advanced  civili- 
zation of  this  day  is  Christianity ;  the  second,  that  whatever 
advantage  we  have  derived  from  the  nations  just  mentioned, 
there  is  to  be  set  off  against  it  their  influence  in  corrupting 
Christianity,  and  so  enfeebling   the  very  power  which  was 


180  LITERARY      ADDRESSES. 

working  out  the  regeneration  of  the  world.  It  is  not  from 
them  influences  are  to  proceed  greatly  influential  in  human 
elevation.  Their  chief  power  is  past — its  results  are  known, 
and  known  to  be  insignificant  compared  with  the  wants  of 
man.  Not  solely  for  these  ends  were  they  raised  to  such  a 
height  of  dominion  and  refinement. 

Must  we  then  look  upon  the  life  of  the  world  hitherto  as 
an  ocean,  now  washing  away  one  side  of  a  continent,  then  cast- 
ing up  its  sands  on  another,  gaining  here  what  it  loses  there, 
tossed  with  winds,  driven  in  secret  currents,  ebbing  and  flow- 
ing, yet  much  the  same  after  six  thousand  years  as  at  the  close 
of  one  ?  Is  there  no  real  advance  ;  no  influence  from  the 
past  tending  to  the  exaltation  of  the  future  ;  no  forces  potent 
enough  to  elevate  the  world  to  that  state  for  which  all  this 
creation  gi'oans  ;  no  higher  ends  to  be  accomplished  than  such 
as  are  now  visible  ?  In  the  heavens  each  satelHte  has  its 
proper  motion  round  its  primary,  and  each  planet  a  motion 
round  the  sun  ;  while  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  this 
whole  system  has  still  another  motion,  an  orbit  immense  and 
grand,  around  another  center.  Thus,  while  in  their  com-ses 
there  are  relatively  backward  movements,  yet  absolutely  there 
is  a  steady  progr-ess.  There  is  a  secret  force  lodged  somewhere, 
not  now  fully  known  to  us,  in  obedience  to  whose  attraction 
they  are  all  pressing  round  the  vast  circle  that  encompasses 
the  central  power.  It  is  thus  with  our  world.  These  nations, 
rising  and  falling,  returning  upon  themselves,  and  inverting 
the  order  of  ascent  at  the  very  time  when  all  things  promise 
fairest  for  progress,  are  parts  of  the  life  of  the  race,  satellites 
and  planets,  in  the  vast  system  of  providential  government. 
Neither  their  advancement  nor  their  retrogression  is  without 
connection  with  the  steady  progress  of  the  whole  round  the 
gi'and  center. 

The  great  problem  in  this  world — excluding  the  world  of 
spirits  and  eternity — is  by  what  means  to  impart  the  noblest 
civilization  to  ftiUen  minds — to  minds  naturally  prone  to  bar- 
barism. Were  it  not  so  ;  were  there  no  strong  tendencies 
downward  adverse  to  his  elevation  ;  were,  indeed,  the  chief 


SECULAR     AND     CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.       181 

forces  strongly  set  toward  whatever  is  pure,  and  noble,  and 
excellent,  then,  unquestionably,  the  solution  of  the  problem 
would  be  the  easiest  in  the  world.  Left  to  himself  he  would 
soon  throw  off  his  weights,  and  soar  into  his  native  heavens. 
There  might  be  obstacles  in  his  way  ;  but  we  are  well  assured 
that  they  must  yield  to  the  constant  effort  of  such  powers 
steadily  directed  against  them.  Long  ago,  had  this  been  the 
case,  the  world  would  have  reached  its  meridian  of  glory  and 
blessedness.  It  is  the  fact  that  man's  nature  is  earthly, 
that  constitutes  the  difficulty  of  a  full  solution  of  this  ques- 
tion. 

The  answer  to  it  is  purely  theological,  yet  is  it  none  the 
less  vitally  associated  with  literature,  science  and  art — all 
that  is  beautiful  in  form  or  noble  in  thought.  The  power  to 
reach  man,  to  give  him  the  grandest  civilization,  is  from  with- 
out— from  God.  The  Word  that  inspiration  has  written,  and 
the  Spirit  that  divine  wisdom  bestows,  are  the  powers  which 
are  to  effect  this  result.  Here  it  is  well  to  speak  more  fully. 
There  are  those  abroad,  in  common  with  us,  seeking  for  the 
solution  of  the  same  great  problem,  who  dignify  their  schemes 
of  reform  as  the  developments  of  true  Christianity,  and  the 
realization,  in  the  fullest  degree,  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 
Regarding  Christianity  as  mainly  a  scheme  for  the  bettering 
of  man's  condition  here,  they  necessarily  lose  sight  of  some  of 
its  most  essential  truths.  Appending  to  their  scheme  of  social 
organization  that  portion  of  it  which  is  more  or  less  common 
to  all  systems  of  morals,  and  which  they  might  just  as  well 
have  taken  from  Socrates  or  Cicero,  they  baptize  the  whole 
compound  Christianity.  They  girdle  that  glorious  system, 
and  then  take  the  deadened,  leafless  trunk,  as  the  living  tree 
that  is  to  be  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  In  opposition  to 
all  such  theories,  we  regard  in  this  experiment  Christianity 
as  a  whole — a  complete  system — adapted  to  the  largest  wants 
of  man.  We  include  all  its  doctrines,  its  depravity,  its  cross 
aud  atonement — its  divine  sovereignty  and  the  efficacious 
working  of  the  Holy  Ghost — its  precepts  and  sanctions,  prom- 
ises and  revelations  of  the  future  world.     It  is  the  entire  sys- 


182  LITERARY     ADDRESSES, 

tern  wliich  is  yet  to  be  made  available  in  securing  the  perfect 
civilization  of  the  world. 

In  addition  to  this,  we  regard  Christianity  as  aiming 
primarily  at  our  preparation  for  heaven  ;  secondly,  only  at 
our  elevation  on  earth.  Her  chief  ends  are  future.  Its  fol- 
iage and  its  blossoms  are  for  time  ;  its  fruit  for  eternity. 
Thus  its  vivifying  power  is  drawn  from  the  other  world.  Its 
grand  agent  is  invisible.  It  is  the  descent  of  divine  wisdom 
and  strength  into  man,  to  recover  him  from  that  pestilent  fall 
which  has  overspread  this  life  and  that  to  come  with  dark- 
ness. Its  power  as  a  civilizer  of  the  race  is  derived  almost 
wholly  from  its  connection  with  the  forces  of  eternity.  To 
elevate  us  for  this  life  is  a  secondary  object,  a  means  to  a  far 
nobler  and  more  enduring  end.  The  kingdom  of  Christ  is 
not  properly  of  this  world.  But  its  sj)read  and  establishment 
here  will  create  the  finest  condition  possible  for  humanity  on 
earth,  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  preparing  spirits  for  a 
brighter  sphere.  It  is  by  the  union  of  the  two  that  power  is 
gained  for  temj)oral  purposes.  He  who  views  the  Christian 
scheme  as  having  respect  chiefly  to  time,  strips  it  of  the  force 
essential  to  its  success  in  time.  Its  success  for  this  world  will 
be  measured  in  the  longest  period  by  its  success  for  the  other. 
It  can  only  effect  fully  the  civilization  of  the  race  here,  by 
preparing  it  most  i3erfectly  for  a  life  most  sublime  and  most 
holy  beyond  the  grave.  It  is  this  linking  of  time  to  eternity, 
this  bringing  the  forces  of  tJiat  to  work  upon  the  heart  and 
mind  of  man  in  this,  by  which  the  grandest  results  are  to  be 
secured. 

Such  is  the  theory,  but  at  first  it  is  only  a  theory — a 
purely  theological  dogma,  proved  by  no  experience,  demon- 
strated by  no  facts.  As  mind  is  the  subject  of  its  operations 
— the  most  subtle,  variable,  independent  agent  in  the  uni- 
verse— so  it  never  can  be  inferred  absolutely  before  actual 
trial,  that  this  is  the  solution  of  the  problem,  or  if,  for  con- 
vincing reasons  of  another  nature  we  attain  this  conviction, 
yet  the  immense  multitudes  who  are  to  be  affected  by  it,  can 
never  be  so  grandly  impressed  with  the  perfection  of  this 


SECULAR    AND    CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.      1S^1 

scheme,  and  the  wisdom  of  its  Author,  as  by  the  demonstra- 
tion of  an  actual  experiment.  To  the  completeness  of  this 
impression,  it  must  be  illustrated  both  positively  and  nega- 
tively. It  must  be  shown  by  the  failure  of  all  other  forces 
that  this  alone  can  secure  the  perfect  civilization  of  the  world. 
The  ex|>  riments  must  be  so  varied,  and  so  protracted,  as  to 
include  a  fair  trial  of  all  the  chief  kinds  of  influence  that  can 
be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  human  mind.  They  must  all  be 
tried,  or  the  illustration  is  not  complete  ;  the  one  omitted 
may  be  that  which  is  able  to  effect  the  elevation  of  man. 
They  must  have  a  fair,  and  therefore  a  protracted  trial,  be- 
cause these  causes  act  slowly,  spreading  themselves  down  the 
slope  of  centuries,  and  gathering  about  them  the  spirit  and 
power  of  antiquity. 

It  might  seem,  at  first,  an  easy  matter  to  determine  this 
problem  :  it  might  seem  as  if  a  century  or  two  at  most  would 
be  all-sufficient  for  this  purpose.  But  that  complex  being, 
man,  is  not  thus  easily  compassed.  The  mind  and  heart  are, 
of  all  things,  the  most  capacious  recipients  of  influence  ;  they 
are  moved  and  molded  by  an  infinite  variety  of  objects.  The 
causes  which  move  them  are  not  only  varied,  but  often  slow 
in  theh  operation.  It  is  possible  to  quicken  physical  causes  ; 
it  is  possible  that  certain  forces  concerned  in  the  stratification 
of  the  globe,  and  the  settlement  of  its  chaotic  masses,  did  as 
much  work  then  in  a  year  as  in  other  circumstances  they 
could  do  in  a  thousand.  But  it  is  not  possible  thus  to  hasten 
the  operation  of  moral  causes.  Mind  itself  matures  slowly  ; 
feeling  unfolds  gradually.  The  man  is  to  grow  up  not  simply 
as  one,  but  in  generations  and  nations,  that  similar  influences 
may  mold  him  in  the  cradle,  in  the  social  circle,  in  the  world 
without ;  that  the  power  of  each  class  of  motives  may  receive 
all  the  strength  which  tijne,  which  antiquity,  which  system, 
and  other  leading  influences  interlocking  with  it,  and  increas- 
ing its  plastic  energy,  can  bestow.  Even  in  material  science 
there  are  some  questions  which  centuries  alone  can  solve. 
There  are  disturbing  forces  in  the  sky,  whose  results  the  as- 
tronomer observes,  but  their  nature  and  origin  he  is  unable 


184 


LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 


to  determine  till  after  the  recorded  observations  of  many  cen- 
tm-ies  atford  the  data  for  his  calculations.  There  is  a  star 
whose  revolution  round  its  center  is  supposed  to  be  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  thousand  years.  If,  then,  in  the  world  of  mat- 
ter there  are  cycles  so  immense,  and  problems  solvable  only 
after  the  passage  of  slow  moving  ages,  how  much  more  rea- 
sonable is  it,  that  in  order  to  the  settlement  of  this  stupen- 
dous moral  question,  age  should  follow  age,  century  succeed 
century,  decades  of  centuries  rise  and  set  ere  the  grand  expe- 
riment shall  be  fully  tried,  and  the  result  announced  to  the 
far-off  and  eagerly  attentive  worlds. 

Let  us  here  note  some  of  the  elements  of  this  experiment, 
and  then  select  two  or  three  as  illustrations  of  the  whole.  In 
determining  the  only  means  by  which  man  can  be  exalted  to 
the  highest  civilization,  there  must  come  into  trial,  the  influ- 
ence of  life  long  continued,  and  life  brief  and  uncertain  ;  of 
differences  of  language  ;  of  social  institutions  ;  of  forms  of 
government  and  national  distinctions  ;  of  climate  and  physi- 
cal position  ;  of  the  country  and  the  city  ;  of  war  and  peace  ; 
of  luxury  and  poverty ;  of  commerce,  agriculture  and  manu- 
factures ;  of  law  in  all  its  forms  ;  of  art  and  science  ;  of  the 
press,  the  pulpit  and  the  school ;  of  religion,  both  in  doctrine 
and  government ;  of  theism  and  Christianity  •  in  connection 
on  one  side  with  the  simple  and  complex  rites,  with  corrup- 
tions and  talmuds,  rabbinical  sayings  and  priestly  additions  ; 
on  the  other  with  monarchy,  hierarchy,  republicanism  and 
democracy.  These  constitute  a  part  of  that  great  assemblage 
of  influences  by  which  it  has  been  tried  to  elevate  man  to  the 
highest  earthly  felicity.  It  is  obvious  that  these  experiments 
are  necessarily  more  or  less  intermingled  and  combined,  ren- 
dering the  process  of  solution  slower  and  more  difficult.  For 
the  influences  at  work  must  be  combined  in  all  Ihe  different 
modes  of  which  they  are  susceptible,  in  order  to  furnish  a  tri- 
umphant conclusion.  It  may  be  that  sufficiency  of  food  and 
healthful  labor  are  all  that  is  essential  ;  or  that  these  must 
be  combined  with  some  one  form  of  religion ;  or  these  with 
art  and  science ;  or  these  with  some  peculiar  government ;  or 


SECULAR    AND    CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.       185 

all  these  with  an  age  of  centuries  to  perfect  their  operation. 
Where  the  elements  are  so  numerous,  the  combinations  on 
which  the  final  result  is  to  depend  may  be  greatly  increased. 
The  Socialist  tells  you,  "  Grant  me,  1st,  land  ;  2d,  a  certain 
organization  of  social  life,  and  I  will  build  you  up  a  perfect 
state,  a  pattern  community  ;  I  will  set  up  my  bee-hive,  re- 
move the  drones,  set  the  queen  adrift,  elaborate  the  richest 
honey,  expel  the  worms,  bar  out  the  chill  blasts  of  winter, 
and  exalt  my  little  industrial  community  to  the  loftiest  point 
of  civilization."  Now,  that  which  this  man  affirms  of  his 
jjlan,  millions  have  affirmed  of  theirs.  "  Let  me  select,  let 
me  combine,  let  me  watch  and  guard  against  adverse  influ- 
ences, and  I  will  rear  a  grander  Utopia  than  Plato,  or  More, 
or  Swedenborg,  or  Fourier  ever  imagined."  Well,  this  pro- 
cess of  selection  and  combination,  on  the  largest  and  most 
protracted  scale,  has  been  going  on  for  six  thousand  years, 
and  is  still  in  progress.  Let  us  look  at  some  of  these  experi- 
ments. 

First  in  time,  if  not  of  importance,  is  the  Methuselah 
period — the  age  of  physical  and  mental  vigor,  maintained 
through  long  centuries.  The  experiments  of  those  sixteen 
hundred  years  must  have  been  nmiierous  and  deeply  interest- 
ing. What  an  opportunity  to  determine  the  capacity  of  in- 
dividual improvement  in  science  and  morals  !  Think  of  an 
investigation  conducted  by  a  ripe  intellect  in  any  direction  for 
six,  seven,  or  eight  centuries  ;  think  of  the  steady  advance  of 
a  single  mind  through  almost  the  entire  period  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Eoman  empire.  What  decisive  results  it  could 
attain  during  so  immense  a  progress  !  The  mere  decay 
wrought  by  time  within  that  period,  would  give  the  most 
magnificent  cities  to  ruin.  The  adding  of  a  stone  each  day 
would  rear  a  palace  of  enormous  dimensions,  or  a  tower  rival- 
ing that  of  Babel.  What  progress  in  art  could  not  the  skill 
of  ages  effect !  What  architecture  !  What  statuary  !  What 
painting  !  What  music  could  not  the  artists,  whose  experi- 
ence extended  through  eight  hundred  years,  have  achieved  ! 
In  general  science,  how  jjrofound,  how  large,  how  admirable 


186  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

the  results  would  be  !  Noiu,  the  strongest  intellect  has  only 
become  well  educated  for  its  work,  and  fairly  commenced  its 
investigations,  when  disease  enfeebles  its  power  of  applica- 
tion, or  death  totally  terminates  its  relations  to  this  world. 
How  often  the  chariot  is  arrested  midway  in  its  burning 
progress  to  the  goal,  and  the  ardent  spirit,  animated  by  the 
anticipation  of  victory,  suddenly  tumbled  from  his  seat ! 
What  vast  projects,  spreading  far  into  the  future,  and  des- 
tined, could  they  be  accomplished,  to  open  new  worlds  of 
thought,  are  left  for  ever  unfinished  by  the  rude  •  interference 
of  time  !  Could  Copernicus  have  lived  to  follow  out  the 
magnificent  system  of  the  universe  he  had  barely  time  to 
trace  and  commit  to  the  immortality  of  the  press  ; — could 
Bacon  have  not  only  theorized,  but  demonstrated,  not  only 
composed  a  new  method  of  science,  but  prosecuted  that 
method  with  the  matchless  vigor  of  his  intellect  in  a  body 
yet  undecayed,  for  half  a  dozen  centuries  ! — could  Burke 
have  advanced  in  political  philosophy,  and  Edwards  in  the- 
ology, for  many  ages,  what  rich  and  wonderful  products 
would  they  have  given  to  the  world  !  Time  corrects  erroi'S, 
changes  points  of  view,  gives  opportunity  for  experiment,  for 
the  comparison  of  opinions,  for  the  abatement  of  prejudice, 
the  protracted  culture  of  the  power  of  discovering  truth. 
But  now  men  barely  get  seated  at  their  work  before  the  pale 
messenger  beckons  them  away.  The  broken  clue  another  may 
tie,  but  that  other  may  not  rise  for  long  ages.  The  openings 
of  grand  thoughts,  the  vision  of  new  mysteries,  without  a 
question,  are  often  closed  for  ever  by  the  advent  of  death.  No 
other  being  in  the  whole  history  of  the  race  may  arise,  who 
shall  occupy  the  same  stand-point,  and  behold  truth  in  the 
same  combination.  But  that  past  period  gave  full  scope  for 
the  experiment  of  time.  Whatever  man  could  do,  they  en- 
joyed the  opportunity  of  doing.  To  what  heights  of  civili- 
zation they  rose  ;  what  magnificent  cities  they  built ;  what 
smiling  arcadias  greeted  the  morning  sun  ;  Avhat  provisions 
for  luxury,  what  experiments  in  government  and  religion, 
they  made,  we  do  not  fully  know.     But  one  thing  we  do 


SECULAR    AND     CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.       187 

know, — the  experiment  of  Time  Avas  a  failure.  Tlie  mere 
possession  of  age — of  long  ages  of  existence,  in  which  human 
nature  might  correct  the  evil,  and  work  out  the  good  in  all 
imaginable  forms  of  beauty  and  utility — in  which  all  the  in- 
fluences that  meet  us  here  might  have  room  to  show  their 
power  in  elevating  this  race  to  its  high  destiny  ; — all  this  was 
not  sufficient.  Whatever  progress  it  secured  in  some  direc- 
tions, it  failed  in  laying  the  broad  foundation  on  which  alone 
true  civilization  could  be  permanently  reared.  It  not  only 
failed — it  signally  failed  ;  it  was  a  failure  worthy  of  the 
frightful  catastroj^he  which  buried  the  unsightly  fabric  of 
antediluvian  toil  from  the  sight  of  future  generations,  lest  its 
presence  should  aid  improperly  in  vitiating  all  other  experi- 
ments. The  records  of  that  mighty  age,  when  men  of  gigan- 
tic form,  who  could  look  back  over  many  centuries,  thought, 
planned,  and  wrought,  are  yet  to  be  unrolled.  When  the  eye 
shall  rest  upon  them,  who  will  be  able  to  doubt  either  the 
magnificence  of  the  exj^eriment  in  human  legislation,  or  the 
utter  powerlessness  of  earthly  forces,  separate  or  combined, 
in  the  case  of  such  a  temporary  immortality,  to  work  out  the 
grandest  destiny  of  man  ?  The  surgings  of  that  angry  flood 
roar  unceasingly,  in  the  ears  of  heaven  and  earth,  angels  and 
men,  and  on  through  the  yet  unborn  future  proclaim  the  sad 
conclusion  of  the  first  great  act  of  Time. 

Lot  us  enter  now  upon  another  period — that  which  fur- 
nishes the  broadest  field  for  the  recorded  experiments  of  his- 
tory ;  that  in  which  life  declines  nominally  to  three  quarters 
of  a  centuiy,  but  actually  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  falls 
much  lower.  The  conditions  of  the  experiment  are  now 
wholly  changed.  The  alteration  in  the  age  of  man  introduces 
a  revolutionary  element  into  all  the  previous  combinations, 
and  necessitates  a  repetition  of  them.  From  the  Flood  on- 
ward, the  experiments  in  reference  to  civilization  fill  up  each 
age  of  history.  But  of  these  it  will  be  necessary  for  our  pur- 
pose to  select  only  two  or  three  as  illustrations  of  the  failure 
of  the  whole.     We  will  select  first  an  example  of  popular 


188  LITERARY      ADDRESSES. 

freedom  combined  with  popular  intelligence  and  polytheistic 
worship. 

In  the  south-eastern  peninsula  of  Europe  dwelt  a  people, 
free  even  to  the  extreme  of  democracy,  intelligent  to  a  degree 
rarely  equaled.  Girt  in  by  the  waters,  a  nation,  circum- 
scribed within  the  circuit  of  a  few  leagues,  rose  to  an  emi- 
nence in  history  to  which  the  world  has  ever  since  looked  back 
with  admiration,  and  from  which,  as  a  queen,  she  sent  forth 
her  commands  for  centuries  to  the  worshipers  that  kneeled 
around  her  throne.  Worthy  was  she  of  that  queenly  crown. 
Never  before  had  another  such  risen  on  the  earth  ;  and  few 
since  have  appeared  who  dare  pretend  equality  with  her.  The 
stars  that  illuminated  her  firmament  still  shine  serenely.  She 
gave  to  the  world  such  forms  of  beauty  as  ever  since  have  rav- 
ished the  senses  of  mankind.  She  sang  ;  the  nations  listened 
enchanted.  She  speculated  ;  and  men  learnt  to  reason.  She 
wrote ;  her  narrations  thrilled  the  soul ;  the  scenes  of  history, 
instinct  with  life,  moved  before  the  eye  a  present  reality.  She 
spake  ;  the  tones  of  her  eloquence  swayed  the  heart ;  the 
earth  gave  audience  ;  her  whispers  penetrated  far  continents 
and  distant  ages.  She  acted  ;  it  was  nature  revealing  nature 
to  the  soul,  passion  sublimely  impassioned,  virtue  avenged, 
vice  punished,  law  triumphant.  She  wrought  ;  the  Parthe- 
non arose.  She  fought ;  Marathon,  Salamis,  Platea  became 
the  watchword  of  freedom  in  all  time.  What  nation  is  ig- 
norant of  her  history  ?  What  academy,  college,  university 
worthy  of  the  name,  studies  not  her  works  .''  What  land  of 
modern  civilization  seeks  not  to  realize  her  beautiful  forms  ? 

This  wonderful  perfection  was  national,  universal.  It  was 
not  an  exotic,  reared  in  a  royal  conservatory  to  adorn  a  mon- 
arch's court.  There,  statesmen,  orators,  poets,  philosophers, 
warriors,  sprang  spontaneously  from  the  people.  The  roots 
of  their  greatness  derived  vitality  from  the  masses  among 
whom  they  grew.  It  they  had  genius,  it  was  but  a  fuller  de- 
velopment of  the  genius  of  the  multitude.  If  they  possessed 
intelligence,  it  was  an  intelligence  not  greatly  in  advance  of 
the  mass  for  whom  they  wrought.    They  were  the  loftier  oaks 


SECULAR     AND    CHRISTIAN    CIVILIZATION.       189 

of  a  noble  forest.  Their  native  genius,  combining  with  a  most 
perfect  system  of  popular  education,  gave  birth  to  a  remark- 
able difiusion  of  general  intelligence.  Rarely  in  the  world's 
history  can  we  find  a  nation  more  thoroughly  penetrated  with 
the  sj)irit  of  learning.  Without  a  press,  they  yet  studied, 
questioned,  listened  to  the  most  cultivated  minds,  judged, 
passed  laws,  criticised  works  of  arts.  They  seemed  to  live 
mainly  for  the  curious,  the  beautiful,  the  new.  Their  na- 
tional enthusiasm  inspired  devotion  to  art,  to  science  to  let- 
ters. An  entablature,  a  statue  by  Phidias,  an  oration  by 
Demosthenes,  a  play  by  Euripides,  moved  the  heart  of  the  na- 
tion. Their  everlasting  "  n  Kaivov^"  and  "  n  Kaivorepov"  about 
which  both  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  their  own  chief  orator,  de- 
clared they  mainly  busied  themselves  ;  their  perfect  freedom, 
their  self-government,  their  daily  exercise  in  all  those  great 
questions  which  have  always  tested  the  powers  of  the  human 
intellect ;  the  direct  intercourse  between  them  and  their  great 
men,  combined  to  lead  them  in  this  path  of  self-instruction, 
and  diffuse  abroad  a  vast  amount  of  general  intelligence. 
"  Let  us" — says  one  of  the  most  brilliant  critics  and  histo- 
rians of  the  age — "  let  us  for  a  moment  transport  ourselves  in 
thought  to  that  glorious  city.  Let  us  imagine  that  we  are 
entering  its  gates,  in  the  time  of  its  power  and  glory.  A 
crowd  is  assembled  round  a  portico.  All  are  gazing  with  de- 
light at  the  entablature,  for  Phidias  is  putting  up  the  frieze. 
We  turn  into  another  street ;  a  rhapsodist  is  reciting  there  ; 
men,  women,  and  children  are  thronging  around  him  ;  4;he 
tears  are  running  down  their  cheeks  ;  their  eyes  are  fixed  ; 
their  very  breath  is  still  ;  for  he  is  telling  how  Priam  fell  at 
the  feet  of  Achilles,  and  kissed  those  hands — the  terrible — 
the  murderous — which  had  slain  so  many  of  his  sons.  We 
enter  the  public  place  ;  there  is  a  ring  of  youths,  all  leaning 
forward,  with  s})arkling  eyes,  and  gestures  of  expectation. 
Socrates  is  pitted  against  the  famous  atheist  from  Ionia,  and 
has  just  brought  him  to  a  contradiction  in  terms.  But  we 
are  interrupted.  The  herald  is  ciying,  '  Room  for  the  Pry- 
tanes.'     The  general  assembly  is  to  meet.     Tlie  peo})le  are ' 


190  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

swarmiug  in  on  every  side.  Proclamation  is  made — '  who 
wishes  to  speak  T  There  is  a  shout  and  a  clapping  of  hands ; 
Pericles  is  mounting  the  stand.  Then  for  a  play  of  Sopho- 
cles ;  and  away  to  sup  with  Aspasia." 

Under  such  a  discipline,  Greece  must  have  enjoyed  influ- 
ences, the  most  etfective  of  their  kind,  for  ennobling  the  char- 
acter, exalting  her  to  the  highest  point  of  civilization.  What- 
ever the  most  unlimited  freedom  of  thought,  speech,  and  action 
could  effect ;  whatever  art  and  popular  intelligence  could  do  ; 
whatever  dignity  the  responsibility  of  public  measures,  a  per- 
sonal interest  in  the  minutest  affairs  of  state,  the  opportunity 
of  daily  witnessing  the  finest  displays  of  genius,  could  impart 
to  the  character — all  this  she  possessed  in  the  highest  degi*ee. 
Whatever  purity  and  elevation  the  soul  could  derive  from  the 
most  artistic  and  beautiful  forms  of  polytheistic  worshij),  the 
grand  and  lovely  images  of  gods  and  goddesses,  the  splendor 
of  their  public  celebrations,  the  aw^ful  communion  of  their 
mysteries,  this  was  within  her  reach.  If  art,  if  taste,  if  senti- 
ment, if  general  intelligence,  combined  with  a  genius  for  ac- 
tion the  most  enthusiastic,  and  a  field  for  its  dis])lay  the  most 
unbounded,  in  connection  with  the  finest  style  of  polytheism, 
could  secure  the  noblest  state  of  man,  then  would  this  people 
have  attained  that  state,  and  left  the  world  the  legacy  of  a 
model  civilization.  Yet  who  of  her  most  enthusiastic  admir- 
ers ;  who  of  those  that  have  examined  her  history  with  suffi- 
cient attention  to  discern  the  foul  currents  of  passion  that 
beneath  all  this  exterior  of  beauty  were  ever  in  motion  ;  the 
pride,  the  sensuality,  the  levity,  the  ingratitude,  the  malevo- 
lence, the  ambition,  the  indifference  to  the  noblest  feelings  of 
religion  ;  who,  understanding  her  whole  character  and  history, 
is  willing  to  accept  her  as  an  illustration  of  the  highest  style 
of  civilization — of  that  destiny  to  which  he  hopes  the  race  is 
yet  to  be  exalted  ?  Who,  on  the  other  hand,  knowing  her 
well,  will  not  pronounce  this  exjjerimcnt  one  of  the  most  de- 
cisive, though  splendid,  failures  in  the  whole  series  of  exper- 
iments !  Possessing  a  part  of  the  elements  of  true  civilization 
in  great  richness,  she  yet  lacked  the  noblest,  most  efiective  of 


SECULAR    AND    CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.       191 

tliera  all.  Her  civilization  was  natural,  instinctive.  It  was 
neither  created  by  the  highest  form  of  religion,  nor  pervaded 
by  the  pure  spirit  of  divine  love,  nor  irradiated  by  supernatural 
intelligence,  nor  guided  to  the  most  useful  ends  by  the  pre- 
cepts of  a  noble  humanity.  The  mighty  stream  of  evil  passion 
flowed  on  unchecked,  unj)urified ;  and  though  it  meandered 
through  meadows  enameled  with  flowers  of  every  hue,  amidst 
parks  of  most  majestic  trees,  aud  by  temples  and  palaces  of 
noble  architecture,  yet  it  was  the  same  foul  and  destroying 
current  still.  No  prophet  had  sprinkled  salt  upon  its  bitter- 
ness ;  no  intellectual  cultivation  had  sufficed  to  cleanse  away 
its  putridity.  In  due  time  the  beauty  that  adorned  its  banks 
faded  ;  its  marble  glories  crumbled  ;  its  majestic  oaks  lost 
their  foliage,  and  death  and  solitude  reigned  with  an  un- 
broken sovereignty.  Greece  !  what  is  she  now  but  a  sad  and 
splendid  illustration  of  the  imbecility  of  these  outward  and 
earthly  influences  to  secure  man's  noblest  elevation.  For  this 
she  rose  ;  for  this  she  attracted  by  her  meteor  brilliancy  the 
notice  of  all  time  ;  for  this  she  set  for  ever  in  a  night  of  gloom 
and  death.  Her  genius,  still  breathing  around  us,  and  des- 
tined to  live  wherever  the  feet  of  civilized  man  shall  tread, 
now  looks  sadly  down,  and  declares  the  necessity  of  other 
and  higher  forces  than  mere  freedom  and  intelligence,  to 
create  and  preserve  the  purest,  richest,  and  happiest  earthly 
state. 

Turn  now  to  her  colossal  neighbor.  Rome,  from  her  pro- 
tracted existence,  her  wide-spread  dominion,  and  the  changes 
which  the  world  underwent  during  her  ascent  to  power  and 
subsequent  decline,  furnishes  a  variety  of  negative  illustra- 
tions of  our  subject.  First,  She  illustrates  the  inability  of 
mere  knv,  however  wise  and  just,  however  established  in  con- 
stitutions and  vigorously  executed,  to  elevate  a  nation  to  the 
liighest  point  of  civilization.  If  Grreece  was  distinguished  for 
art  and  general  science  and  popular  freedom,  Rome  was,  for 
ages,  equally  distinguished  for  constitutional  law.  Her  Senate 
was  a  lar  more  august  tribunal  tlian  that  of  the  Areopagi. 
Her  forum  gave  birth  to  those  statutes  of  justice  which  have 


192  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

been  wrought  into  the  code  of  the  civilized  world.  Around 
her  sons  she  threw  a  shield  of  brass,  and  the  talismanic  words, 
"  I  am  a  Roman  citizen,"  forced  prastor  and  consul  to  respect 
the  rights  of  the  State,  though  maintained  by  the  meanest  of 
the  populace.  Even  the  conquered  nations,  though  some- 
times wasted  with  exactions,  were  yet  in  the  main  treated 
with  the  justice  that  befitted  the  sovereignty  of  Kome,  We 
can  not  account  for  the  steady  maintenance  of  her  power,  and 
the  firm  incorporation  of  so  many  diverse  nations  into  one 
empire,  except  on  the  supposition  that  she  carried  her  prin- 
ciples of  civil  equity  abroad,  and  sought  to  ally  the  subject 
people  by  lifting  them  to  a  comparative  equality  of  privilege. 
Such  at  least  was  the  theory.  It  was  law — known  law — rul- 
ing, rather  than  a  king  or  an  emperor.  The  death  of  Kemus, 
for  his  contempt  of  law  and  right,  was  a  fit  type  of  the  spirit 
of  that  stern  dominion.  Its  history  illustrated  the  power  of 
law  in  the  exaltation  of  a  people.  Yet  this  exi3eriment  failed. 
Excellent  in  theory,  there  was  a  secret  force  of  evil  that  viti- 
ated its  practice.  The  masses  were  ever  unhappy,  restless — 
a  dark  sea,  tossing  its  unquiet  waves  and  dashing  things  most 
precious  to  destruction. 

Then  the  emperor — the  Cfesar  rose.  Another  experiment 
is  tried.  Vast  power  is  centralized  in  a  single  hand.  The 
mightiest  empire  the  sun  ever  shone  upon,  knew  but  one 
master.  He  spake  ;  they  trembled  or  rejoiced.  He  com- 
manded ;  swift-winged  couriers  bore  the  edict  to  the  High- 
lands of  Scotland,  the  pillars  of  Hercules,  the  mountains  of 
Armenia.  Yet  this,  too,  was  a  failure.  Stagnation  followed 
action  ;  the  freeman,  turned  into  the  slave,  lived  to  riot  or 
suffer.  Man  rose  not  so  high  under  the  emperor  as  under  the 
consul. 

Again  the  experiment  is  changed.  In  the  preceding  cases, 
the  combination  is  with  Polytheism.  But  now  a  purer  reli- 
gion began  to  spread  itself  abroad — to  force  even  emperors 
and  pagans  to  recognize  its  divinity.  The  Immanuel  had 
died  ;  and  Christianity,  sealed  by  his  resurrection,  had  begun 
\wv  world-wide  mission  of  mercy.     This  mighty  State  allies 


SECULAR    AND    CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.       193 

the  ministers  of  this  pure  faith  to  itself ;  they,  in  turn,  cor- 
rupted, by  prosjjerity,  and  grown  into  an  liierarchy,  soon  blend 
the  rites  of  paganism  witli  the  simple  worship  of  the  religion 
of  the  cross.  Then  began  the  experiment  of  Church  and  State 
on  the  one  hand  ;  of  Christianity  wedded  to  heathenism  on 
the  other,  as  forces  powerful  to  work  out  the  el6vation  of 
men.  They  were  both  gigantic  failures.  The  pure  spirit  of 
religion  shrunk  from  the  profanation  ;  with  the  form  of  pagan- 
ism came  its  power  ;  the  baptism  of  its  temples  neither  over- 
turned its  altars  nor  demolished  its  idols.  The  name  was 
changed,  but,  save  in  pomj)  and  splendor,  the  old  worshi}) 
differed  little  from  the  new.  The  State  itself  declined  in 
power  as  the  priest  grew,  until  the  experiment  reached  its 
full  demonstration,  when  the  tiara  tow^ered  above  the  crown, 
the  mitre  overshadowed  the  helmet,  and  princes  with  devout 
humility  held  the  stirrups  for  the  apostate  successor  of  Peter. 
Behold  here  the  result  of  spiritual  authority,  centralized  in  a 
fallible  mortal,  spreading  over  a  wide  field,  and  operating  with 
a  more  fearful  energy  than  did  that  of  the  empire  !  Man 
debased  to  the  most  degrading  superstitions,  yet  bearing  the 
sacred  name  of  Christ ;  mind  active  only  in  rearing  cathe- 
drals, in  foolish  disputations,  in  feudal  combats  ;  ignorance 
settling  thicker  and  darker  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  dis- 
cussion on  all  the  high  themes  of  religion  restrained  by  a  law 
inconceivably  horrible  ;  while  even  physical  science  must  ask 
on  bended  knee  a  priestly  benediction,  ere  it  dare  publish  to 
the  world  its  brilliant  discoveries.  Then  were  all  souls  cap- 
tive, in  dungeons  dark,  and  strong,  and  terrible.  At  such  an 
hour,  the  clarion  of  the  Monk  of  Wittemberg  rang  through 
Europe ;  it  reverberated  in  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's ;  its  echoes 
lingered  in  the  Alps,  and  were  repeated  in  the  Highlands  of 
the  North. 

Another  experiment  began.  Christianity  was  divorced 
from  2)aganism,  but  yet  it  was  cumbered  on  the  one  hand 
with  artificial  forms  of  worship,  and  on  the  other  by*  state 
alliances.  Since  then,  these  and  various  other  combinations 
have  been  tried.    The  church  has  been  allied  in  turn  to  mon- 

13 


194  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

archy  and  democracy.  It  has  been  arrayed  in  all  manner  of 
ritualism,  and  made  to  play  a  part  subordinate  to  earthly  in- 
terests. These  experiments  have  all  been  failures.  Not  that 
Christianity  has  in  any  true  sense  failed.  Wherever  it  has 
been  permitted  to  come  in  contact  with  men,  it  has  wrought 
with  vast  energy.  It  has  upheaved  continents  of  superstition, 
abuse  and  ignorance.  It  has  done  all  for  man  that  was  most 
vital  to  his  elevation.  But  in  all  these  cases  the  experiment 
of  the  power  of  Christianity,  has  been  partially  vitiated  by 
that  which  men  have  associated  with  it.  They  have  mingled, 
without  a  just  appreciation  of  their  relations,  the  human  with 
the  divine  ;  used  physical  energy  to  assist  moral  influence  ; 
built  towers  of  stone  to  strengthen  the  pillars  of  heaven. 
Truth  has  often  been  like  a  thread  of  gold  in  a  cloth  woven 
for  the  most  part  of  perishable  materials.  When  at  length 
the  garment  lost  its  strength  and  brilliancy,  men  blamed  the 
thread  of  gold,  and  not  the  miserable  elements  around  it.  Yet 
did  that  thread  remain  unflided,  unimpaired,  as  bright  and 
strong  as  when  first  woven.  Oh  !  had  the  world  possessed 
the  wisdom  to  have  used  this  material  alone,  this  work  would 
have  stood  for  ever. 

Did  our  limits  permit  us  to  gather  uj)  the  results  of  experi- 
ments in  human  elevation  thus  far,  it  would  be  easy  to  show 
that  no  mere  earthly  force  has  been  sufficient  to  secure,  for 
even  a  brief  period,  that  style  of  civilization  which  we  now 
anticipate.  It  would  be  seen  that  no  form  of  government 
and  no  merely  social  organizations  have  power  to  effect  this 
end.  It  would  be  demonstrated  that  no  form  of  government, 
combined  with  greater  or  less  degrees  of  popular  intelligence, 
could  secure  the  result.  It  would  be  manifested  that  none 
of  these,  combined  with  any  form  of  false  reh'gion,  or  any 
corruption  of  true  religion,  or  even  with  Christianity  itself, 
when  the  alliance  subjects  the  latter  to  the  former,  can  suc- 
ceed. It  would  be  seen  that  even  the  art  of  printing,  the 
boasted  liberty  of  the  press,  and  the  diffusion  of  intelligence 
in  itself,  has  no  power  to  exalt  or  civilize  the  race.  A  vast 
variety  of  forms,  alone  and  in  combination,  have  thus  been 


SECULAR    AND     CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.       195 

tried.  There  is  in  every  experiment  something  wrong  ;  some 
unguarded  point  ;  some  secret  evil,  which  works  the  failure 
of  arrangements  seemingly  most  wise.  No  matter  what  the 
constitution  of  society  may  have  been,  the  historian  can  always 
see  something  which,  if  it  had  or  had  not  been  associated  with 
all  the  other  elements,  might  have  saved  the  State.  There  is 
always  something  wanting  to  the  perfect  working  or  the  per- 
fect results  of  the  best  plan.  All  reflecting  minds  tacitly  or 
openly  admit  the  failure  of  the  combination  as  it  was.  Now, 
if  they  could  only  find  some  other  organization  which  had 
succeeded — some  one  that,  surviving  the  ruin  of  the  rest,  grew 
brighter  and  stronger  with  the  passage  of  time,  elevating  man 
to  the  highest  heaven  of  terrestrial  blessing — then  might  we 
exclaim  with  the  ecstatic  mathematician,  "  Eureka,  Eureka  \" 
then  we  might  believe  that  if  Egypt,  or  Greece,  or  Kome  had 
only  possessed  this  or  that  earthly  element,  they  would  have 
given  an  abiding  illustration  of  just  the  combination  of  forms 
necessary  to  lift  the  race  to  its  just  position.  But  in  the  ab- 
sence of  such  positive  examples,  amidst  the  overwhelming  tes- 
timony of  so  many  dead  and  dying  nations,  amidst  the  wail- 
ing of  millions  in  their  debasement  and  sorrow,  we  are  forced 
to  the  conclusion  that  all  efforts  to  effect  the  largest  civiliza- 
tion of  man  by  earthly  influences  have  been,  in  the  main,  fail- 
ures. Some  things  they  have  effected  ;  but  they  have  not 
effected  the  elevation  of  the  race,  or  any  large  portion  of  it, 
to  that  position  for  which  it  is  qualified  by  its  original  endow- 
ments. 

Thus  far,  it  is  true,  these  experiments  have  been  chiefly 
negative  and  secular.  Christianity  or  pure  Deism  has  run 
along  through  these  earthly  forces,  and  wherever  their  oper- 
ation has  been  most  free,  the  results  have  far  transcended 
those  of  any  combination  of  other  powers.  Whatever  is  most 
bright,  whatever  the  heart  loves  to  dwell  upon  with  most  de- 
light, has  been  associated  with  the  truth  of  God,  It  has  been 
well  remarked  by  F.  Schlegel,  that  "  the  majesty  of  antiquity 
is  felt  to  be  indissolubly  linked  with  images  of  decline  and 
ruin,  for  both  arise  from  the  same  source — the  dominion  of 


196  LITEIIARY     ADDRESSES, 

instinct,  and  the  spontaneous  development  of  nature."  The 
civilization  of  the  past  has  been  chiefly  the  development  of 
nature,  and  that  the  lower  nature  of  man.  The  instruments 
for  effectinsr  it  have  been  drawn  from  reason  and  instinct. 
The  forces  have  been  almost  wholly  secular  and  earthly,  or  if 
other  powers  have  been  brought  in,  if  religion  has  been  intro- 
duced, it  has  been  rather  as  an  assistant  than  as  a  sovereign. 
The  nature  of  man  has  been  permitted  to  work  its  way  and 
reveal  its  richest  fruit.  But  that  nature,  being  itself  in  ruins, 
without  a  total  transformation,  can  never  rise  to  a  perfect 
civilization.  Aided  by  all  the  powers  of  reason,  yet  destitute 
of  strength  from  above,  it  can  only  attain  an  imperfect  con- 
dition— a  perilous  elevation  in  one  or  two  directions — an  ele- 
vation unsustained  and  unguarded  by  the  higher  powers  of 
the  soul,  and  from  which  it  is  certain  to  be  precipitated  by 
the  evil  that  is  unsubdued  in  the  heart.  Here  is  the  grand 
difficulty  with  all  past  experiments  in  civilization.  The  in- 
stinctive love  of  the  beautiful  and  the  orderly  combined  with 
the  most  vigorous  powers  of  the  reason,  may  form  art,  and 
law,  and  science — may  thus  construct  the  body  of  a  civilized 
society  most  symmetrical  and  majestic  ;  but  in  vain  do  they 
strive  to  create  a  soul  that  in  purity  and  love  shall  animate 
that  body,  and  guide  its  limbs,  and  use  its  senses  for  noble 
purposes.  All  these  trials  show  conclusively  that  man,  left 
to  the  workings  of  his  own  nature  and  reason,  can  never  de- 
liver himself  from  the  evil  that  hitherto  hath  undermined  his 
noblest  structures.  But  the  experiment  of  religion — of  pure 
Christianity  —  the  positive  experiment,  has  yet  to  be  fully 
tried.  Hitherto  it  has  wrought  in  subordination  to  inferior 
powers.  Now  it  is  to  assume  the  first  place.  Men  are  to  be 
intent  not  so  much  on  that  which  is  outward  as  on  that  which 
is  inward,  vital,  saving  ;  not  so  much  on  mere  forms  of  gov- 
ernment as  on  se//'-government ;  not  so  much  on  the  dress 
of  life,  as  upon  its  spirit,  its  ultimate  character.  Christianity 
is  to  create  governments,  and  not  governments  to  create  Chris- 
tianity. The  order  pursued  in  secular  civilization  is  to  be  re- 
versed.    For  without  such  a  reversal,  the  positive  example 


SECULAR     AND     CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.      197 

can  not  be  fully  exhibited.  Its  operation  will  oblige  men  to 
give  it  the  first  place  in  their  thoughts,  and  listen  reverently 
to  its  teachings,  and  yield  implicit  obedience  to  its  laws.  It 
is  impossible  Christianity  should  have  a  fair  trial,  unless  it  is 
permitted  to  assume  the  relative  position  which  the  other 
elevating  influences  of  the  past  have  occupied.  As  men  have 
listened  to  the  voice  of  learning  and  eloquence,  so  must  they 
listen  to  these  sublime  teachings ;  as  they  have  bowed  to 
earthly  rulers,  so  must  they  submit  to  God  ;  as  they  have 
sought  by  mere  organizations  to  cover  the  defects  of  their  na- 
ture, so  must  they  seek  from  their  heavenly  Father  the  cure 
of  their  distempered  spirits.  Such  will  be  that  positive  ex- 
periment by  which  the  divine  Wisdom  revealed  in  the  system 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  divine  Spirit  giving  it  life  and  power, 
will  first  reform  the  impure  nature  of  man,  and  thus  enable 
him  to  develop  all  his  powers  in  their  appropriate  work.  It 
will  reach  out  and  remove  the  cause  of  national  mortality. 
It  will  make  science  and  art  consistent  with  purity  and  law. 
It  will  spread  abroad  a  civilization  of  the  million  rather  than 
the  few,  and  make  princes  common,  by  elevating  all  men  to 
princely  character. 

What  further  examples  of  self-ruin,  of  blind  effort  ending 
in  disaster,  of  man  struggling  to  raise  himself  from  the  mo- 
rass, and  sinking  deeper,  we  are  yet  to  witness  before  the  trial 
of  this  great  experiment,  does  not  yet  appear.  One  thing  is 
most  manifest — whatever  particular  or  general  experiments 
are  yet  to  be  made,  will  be  far  more  intimately  connected 
with  the  zuorld  as  a  tvhole,  than  heretofore.  In  time  past, 
nations  rose  and  decayed,  with  only  occasional  connections 
with  other  nations.  Their  isolation  gave  a  peculiar  impress 
to  their  character,  and  enabled  them  to  illustrate  more  per- 
fectly the  operation  of  local  influences  in  molding  states. 
But  the  tendency  of  this  day  is  to  universality.  The  earth, 
long  possessed  by  conflicting  nations — nations  so  separated  by 
rivers,  mountains,  oceans,  and  their  own  intense  selfish  patriot- 
ism, as  to  forbid  the  entrance  of  universal  knowledge — is  now 
passing  under  the  reign  of  influences  that  in  time  will  level  the 


198  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

dividing  walls,  and  net-work  its  entire  surface  with  the  means 
pf  rapid  and  constant  intercommunication.  Rome  had  a  vast 
emj^ire,  traversed  by  solid  roads  in  various  directions.  But 
Rome  was  only  a  single  nation,  confined  to  the  land,  or  creejD- 
ing  fearfully  along  the  shore  in  her  clumsy  triremes.  How 
absurd  her  ideas  of  nations  no  farther  distant  than  Britain  ! 
What  school-boy  has  not  laughed  at  the  description  given  by 
Tacitus  of  the  ocean  that  washes  those  northern  isles,  and 
the  ridiculous  j^hilosophy  by  which  he  accounts  for  the  vis- 
cidity of  its  waters  ?  Now  the  ocean  is  as  truly  the  home  of 
millions  as  the  land.  Compare  an  ancient  war  galley  with  an 
American  frigate.  What  want  of  adaptation  and  power  in 
the  one ;  what  life,  force,  majesty,  in  the  other  !  That  was 
bounded  by  the  Mediterranean  ;  this  jDresses  the  everlasting 
ice  chains  of  the  poles.  The  earth  has  no  nook  so  secluded,  no 
retreat  so  hidden,  as  to  escape  the  Humboldts  and  the  Lyells 
of  this  age.  Steam — the  chief  agent  as  yet  in  the  approxi- 
mation of  the  distant — has  but  begun  its  reign.  Half  a  cen- 
tury has  not  elapsed  since  it  was  successfully  applied  to 
locomotion.  Five  miles  an  hour  satisfied  Fulton  ;  twenty 
miles  an  hour  on  railroads,  a  few  years  ago,  was  declared  to 
be  highly  dangerous  ;  while  more  recently  still,  a  celebrated 
lecturer  on  natural  science  demonstrated,  before  an  intelli- 
gent audience,  the  impossibility  of  ocean  steam  navigation. 
With  what  rapidity  has  experiment  outrun  theory  and  over- 
turned hypothesis  !  Thirty  miles  an  hour  is  ordinary  speed; 
the  steamship  circumnavigates  the  globe.  Locomotion  is  re- 
duced to  a  very  simple  problem  :  so  much  water  and  so  much 
coal,  and  then  let  the  tempest  rave  ;  against  wind  and  tide 
the  staunch  boat  presses  gallantly  onward.  The  expansion 
in  this  mode  of  travel  within  ten  years  is  prodigious.  What, 
then,  shall  another  half  century  witness,  when  perchance  other 
and  even  more  efl&cient  agencies  may  be  harnessed  to  this 
work  ? 

The  almost  accidental  discovery,  that  a  stream  of  elec- 
tricity passing  over  a  soft  iron  converts  it  into  a  temporary 
masnet,  is  the  fundamental  idea  of  a  new  instrument  for  the 


SECULAR    AND    CHRISTIAN    CIVILIZATION.      199 

transmission  of  intelligence,  whose  results  are  just  beginning 
to  unfold  themselves.  That  thought  should  travel  around 
the  globe,  record  its  progress,  reveal  its  character,  distancing 
time  itself  in  its  flight,  is  a  fancy  of  yesterday,  a  fact  of  to- 
day. The  distinguished  conductor  of  the  Cincinnati  Observ- 
atory— a  gentleman  whose  fertile  genius,  power  of  application, 
capacity  for  the  most  subtile  analysis,  admirable  mechanical 
ingenuity  and  exhaustless  invention,  combined  with  a  pro- 
found knowledge  of  his  science,  have  introduced  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  astronomy  ;  who  has  made  of  the  lightning  a 
printer,  and  compelled  him  to  stereotype  the  positions  of  the 
stars  with  an  accuracy  and  a  rapidity  that  multiplies  a  hun- 
dred fold  the  ability  of  the  astronomer  to  advance  in  the  solu- 
tion of  that  amazing  problem,  the  motions  of  the  stellar 
world — this  gentleman  has  actually  measured  the  progress  of 
the  electric  fluid.  By  positive  and  negative  experiments,  he 
has  determined  the  speed  to  be  about  a  mile  in  30000  of  a 
second  ;■•'  so  that  a  word,  a  thought,  committed  to  this  Mer- 
cury, would  travel  round  the  globe,  were  the  wire  circuit  com- 
plete, in  a  single  second  !  The  idea  of  such  an  encircling  of 
the  world  is  abroad.  We  may  yet  live  to  see  the  Emperor 
of  China,  the  Czar  of  all  the  Kussias,  the  Queen  of  England 
and  the  President  of  the  United  States,  engaged  in  a  friendly 
conversation  on  the  same  evening. 

Commerce,  keeping  pace  with  these  increased  facilities,  is 
spreading  itself  everywhere.  The  knowledge  of  the  world  as 
it  is  is  penetrating  all  nations.  Even  the  Celestial  Empire — 
hitherto  the  center  of  the  world,  while  all  beyond  was  a  rim 
of  barbarism — even  this  empire,  heretofore  of  all  others  most 
impenetrable  to  foreign  ideas,  has  recently  witnessed  the  pub- 
lication of  an  historical  geography,  written  by  one  of  her 
most  eminent  scholars  and  civilians,  graphically  and  truly 
describing  the  earth  itself,  and  the  nations  that  dwell  uj)on  it. 

*  "We  do  not  mean  to  engage  in  the  controversy  respecting  the  nature  of  this 
motion,  or  the  manner  in  which  it  is  propagated.  Whether  it  is  a  current,  or  an 
atmospheric  fluid,  or  what  it  may  be,  we  leave  to  others  to  determine.  The  sim 
pie  result  of  these  observations  in  respect  to  time,  Ls  all  we  design  to  state. 


200  LITERAKY      ADDRESSES. 

Meanwhile,  the  two  great  maritime  nations  are  putting  forth 
their  joint  energies  in  the  same  direction,  and  seeking  to  an- 
nihilate the  obstacles  that  have  kept  men  asmider.  The 
treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  by  which 
the  neutrality  of  any  pathways  of  commerce  hen^after  to  be 
constructed  across  the  isthmus  that  divides  the  two  Americas 
is  secured,  is  a  sign  of  the  approaching  brotherhood  of  na- 
tions. With  such  elements  at  work  ;  with  such  means  of 
exploration,  of  commerce,  of  the  transmission  of  intelligence, 
of  the  more  perfect  acquaintance,  and  more  frequent  inter- 
mingling of  nations,  it  is  obvious  that  the  era  of  a  new  series 
of  experiments  or  of  some  one  grand  experiment  has  arrived. 
Never  before  have  the  chains  of  sympathy  stretched  from  con- 
tinent to  continent  as  they  do  now  ;  never  before  has  mere 
physical  power  so  felt  its  weakness  in  the  presence  of  the  mor- 
al sentiment  of  far-off  millions.  What  force  has  of  late  years 
wrought  most  effectually  at  Constantinople  ?  The  press  of 
London  and  Paris.  How  long  will  it  be  before  the  Emperor 
of  China  will  find  the  Times  a  necessary  appendage  to  his 
breakfast,  and  Pekin  shall  have  its  reading  rooms,  vying  in 
extent  with  those  of  New  York  and  Boston  ?  It  is  out  of  the 
question,  in  these  circumstances,  for  the  old  processes  of 
thought  and  action  to  continue  and  repeat  themselves.  It  is 
impossible  for  any  one  nation  to  isolate  itself  from  these  silent 
and  omnipresent  influences.  The  loorld  is  usurping  the  na- 
tion; the  invisible  force  of  intelligence  and  moral  sentiment  is 
slowly  ])ut  surely  undermining  the  ramparts  of  sectional  big- 
otry and  ignorance.  The  steamshiii  that  jjenetrates  the  Avaters 
of  the  great  eastern  Archipelago,  is  the  sure  sign  of  an  ap- 
proaching revolution  in  manners,  knowledge,  morals,  modes  of 
thought,  and  even  mechanic  arts,  among  the  innumerable  mul- 
titudes of  that  unknown  world.  The  Chinese  are  digging  for 
gold  in  California  ;  but  they  are  Chinese  no  longer.  There  is  in 
our  own  country  a  similar  process  going  forward.  In  the  inter- 
mixture and  friendly  collision  of  millions  born  in  different 
lands,  the  national  is  gradually  lost.  National  churches  can  not 
Ions:  exist  without  a  radical  assimilation  to  the  new  order  of 


SECULAR    AND    CHRISTIAN    CIVILIZATION,     201 

tilings  around  them ;  while  national  modes  of  thought,  cus- 
voms,  and  language,  soon  give  place  to  something  very  different 
— a  combination  of  Americanism  with  the  sturdier  qualities  of 
national  character — the  old  framework  penetrated  by  a  new 
spirit,  and  manifesting  a  new  life.  This  process  is  to  go  for- 
ward all  over  the  world.  Nothino-  can  long;  retard  it.  The 
result  will  be  something  new — something  perhaps  grand — 
something  far  more  remarkable  in  the  way  of  experiment 
toward  the  full  civilization  of  man  than  history  has  yet  re- 
corded. 

What  effect  this  intermingling  of  nations,  this  casting 
down  of  the  separating  walls,  this  mutual  action  and  reac- 
tion, is  to  have  in  settling  the  question  respecting  the  only 
true  means  of  human  elevation,  we  can  not  foresee.  That  no 
such  world-wide  brotherhood,  no  such  rapid  intercourse,  is 
sufficient  to  satisfy  the  conditions  of  the  noblest  civihzation, 
we  are  well  assured.  There  are  other  considerations  that 
seem  to  indicate  that  this  new  aspect  of  the  world  is  to  be 
associated  with  the  full  trial  of  the  positive  and  grandest  ex- 
periment of  civilization.  It  is  to  be  supposed,  indeed,  that 
the  closing  up  of  the  experiment  of  the  earthly  forces  will  be 
gradual.  It  is  not  according  to  the  analogy  of  the  divine 
government  in  time  past,  that  these  vast  processes  should 
suddenly  cease.  The  winding  up  will  probably  be  slow  ; 
cotemporaneously  with  the  opening  of  the  final  illustration, 
trains  of  powers  reaching  back  through  centuries  will  spread 
themselves  ;  subordinate,  and  even  some  of  the  grandest 
forces,  to  which  humanity  has  clung  with  despairing  tenacity 
as  the  chief  anchor  of  hope,  amidst  the  heavings  of  this 
troubled  sea,  will  reveal  their  weakness.  Side  by  side  with 
these  vanishing  powers,  the  Christian  experiment  will  push 
itself  forth,  growing  like  a  tree  which,  long  roofed  over  and 
pent  in  by  walls,  at  length  enjoying  the  sun,  the  rain,  and 
the  breeze,  rapidly  spreads  its  life  far  up  into  the  sky.  There 
are  two  circumstances,  among  others,  which  specially  indicate 
the  rapid  approach  of  the  time  for  the  full  illustration  of 
Christian   civilization.     First.     The   tendency   to  religious 


202  LITERAKY     ADDRESSES. 

freedom  is  increasing  on  every  side.  Freedom  is  one  of  the 
leading  conditions  of  the  great  experiment.  This  mighty 
scheme  can  not  be  tried,  or  the  fullness  of  its  power  be  mani- 
fest, while  men  and  States  are  ever  rearing  their  perishable 
buttresses  around  it,  stretching  out  their  arm  and  their  sword 
to  shield  it  from  peril,  and  enforce  its  authority.  Truth  asks 
no  such  defense  ;  David  can  not  fight  in  Saul's  aiToor  ;  nei- 
ther will  Christianity  ally  to  itself  such  elements  of  corrup- 
tion with  which  to  divide  the  glory  of  victory.  Its  triumphs 
are  in  the  soul,  where  no  external  power  can  reach — where 
human  authority  and  brute  force  are  powerless.  It  goes 
forth  alone  in  its  own  spiritual  might,  to  do  battle  with  the 
forces  of  depravity.  It  will  stand  alone  upon  the  morass  in 
which  corruption  is  sinking  the  race  ;  alone  it  will  desj)oil 
their  foe,  lift  them  on  their  feet,  and  make  the  earth  solid 
beneath  them.  Too  long  its  victories  have  been  retarded  and 
its  glories  eclipsed  by  the  secularizing  policy  of  States,  and 
the  unbelief  of  its  own  supporters  in  its  intrinsic  power. 
Misunderstanding  the  nature  of  man,  the  plans  of  God,  and 
the  vitality  of  the  gospel,  they  have  coupled  the  eagle  and 
the  owl,  as  if  the  lazy  bhd  of  night  could  assist  the  monarch 
in  his  soaring  to  the  sun.  On  this  most  important  point  the 
world  is  getting  wisdom.  Ever  since  the  opening  of  the  fifth 
act  of  time,  when  the  curtain  was  lifted  wp  from  this  vast 
country,  as  the  broad  stage  for  the  noblest  scenes  of  time, 
causes  have  been  in  operation  which  have  at  length  wi'ought 
out  the  freedom  of  tnith  here,  and  are  slowly  sending  their 
influence  over  the  entire  world. 

In  yonder  isle  of  the  deep — our  fatherland, — where  power 
and  wealth,  genius  and  learning  have  reared  their  throne, 
behold  !  the  earth  trembles  beneath  their  lofty  cathedrals, 
while  their  time-honored  union  of  Church  and  State  bleeds 
freely  from  the  vigorous  thrusts  of  a  true-hearted  chivalry. 
From  the  hills  and  glens  of  Scotland,  the  noble  army  of 
confessors  send  forth  around  the  earth  the  voice  of  liberty 
achieved,  of  truth  casting  off  her  unnatural  ally  and  rushing 
on  to  combat  in  the  strength  of  God  alone.     In  that  land 


SECULAR    AND    CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.      203 

which  infidelity,  wedded  to  papacy,  has  filled  with  monsters, 
— the  land  of  the  Huguenot,— in  those  forests  and  fields 
where  of  yore  the  trumpets  of  Luther  and  Zwingle  spake  the 
first  sounds  of  deliverance  to  the  spiritual  bondmen, — even 
there  also,  where  the  tiara  still  gleams  luridly  in  the  light  of 
yon  blazing  mountain,  are  hearts  by  millions  panting  for  this 
rich  boon — freedom  of  thought,  of  utterance,  of  worship  ; 
hands  innumerable  ready  to  grasp  the  sword  to  achieve  it ; 
and  purposes  deep,  settled,  immovable,  yet  to  efiect  it.  Even 
the  Crescent  gi'ows  pale  before  the  gray  dawn  of  this  coming 
day,  which  is  to  scatter  the  darkness  of  Moslem  bigotry,  and 
herald  the  triumphs  of  a  nobler  civilization  than  even  Athens, 
or  Bagdad,  or  Constantinople  ever  saw.  This  onward  prog- 
ress toward  religious  liberty  is  no  dream  ;  no  midnight  vision  ; 
no  paroxysm  of  a  crippled  giant,  to  pass  away  in  a  deeper 
bondage  and  a  more  hopeless  night.  Backwards  and  forwards, 
now  eddying  this  way,  now  rushing  that ;  seething  and  foam- 
ing against  opposing  rocks  ;  pausing  at  times  as  if  about  to 
settle  away  in  the  earth  and  be  lost  for  ever,  still  the  stream 
rises  and  swells,  and  will  rise  and  swell,  till  at  length  Christian 
truth  shall  spread  over  every  land,  in  the  glorious  freedom, 
the  uncontaminated  purity  and  living  force  of  the  wisdom 
of  God.  This  condition  of  the  great  experiment  is  gradu- 
ally forming  itself  in  one  and  another  land  ;  especially  in 
those  lands  whose  power  over  the  world  is  most  quickening, 
and  whose  sons  seem  destined  to  revolutionize  the  forms  of 
social  life,  the  governments,  the  commerce,  and  the  religion 
of  half  the  globe.  Such  is  the  first  clear  sign  of  the  trial  of 
the  chief  experiment. 

The  second  condition  of  its  operation  and  sign  of  its 
coming  is  similar  in  its  character.  It  is  the  preparation  of  a 
great  multitude  of  hearts  for  actively  engaging  in  this  experi- 
ment. The  spirit  and  the  truth  work  in  human  hearts, 
through  human  minds  and  tongues.  These  noble  instru- 
ments will  be  found  polished  and  prepared  in  great  numbers, 
increasing  as  the  great  work  of  Christian  civilization  is  fully 
open  to  their  efibrts.     The  silent  preparation  of  large  masses 


204  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

of  men  for  some  such  labor,  is  obvious  to  any  careful  observer 
of  the  church  of  Christ.  At  this  hour,  and  increasing  all 
over  the  earth,  are  armies  of  souls  who  despair  of  human  ele- 
vation by  human  inventions  ;  who  feel  not  only  that  their 
higher  life  for  the  better  world  must  be  inspired  from  above, 
but  that  the  noblest  fonn  of  this  earthly  life  must  be  cast 
into  the  same  mold,  and  bear  the  same  impress.  Confidence 
in  human  governments,  in  forms,  in  rites,  in  merely  external 
influences,  as  complete  means  of  civilization,  is  dying — in  a 
multitude  of  souls  is  already  dead.  They  are  looking  away 
to  a  higher  power ;  they  are  going  forth  in  the  simple  panoply 
of  truth,  to  revolutionize  nations,  upheave  their  hoary  super- 
stitions, abolish  their  hereditary  and  interlocked  abuses,  set 
up  a  new  form  of  civilization,  and  make  Christianity  the  lever 
with  which  a  world  is  to  be  moved  from  its  place  of  evil,  and 
elevated  to  a  position  of  light  and  love,  of  purity  and  peace. 
It  is  not  usual  for  Infinite  Wisdom  thus  to  prepare  his  in- 
struments when  their  work  is  yet  far  distant.  These  convic- 
tions, these  efforts,  this  faith  in  a  better  scheme  of  civihza- 
tion,  are  his  own  product.  They  are  the  marshahng  of  an 
army  for  near  conflict ;  the  mighty  preparation  for  the  noblest 
victory.  Hitherto  the  good  have  been  overborne  ;  defeat  has 
depressed  the  spirits  of  those  who  sought  for  man's  elevation. 
But  now  a  new  era  will  open — an  era  of  faith  and  victory. 
The  king  will  himself  ascend  the  throne,  direct  the  forces, 
infuse  energy  into  his  subjects,  baffle  his  enemies,  and  at  last 
spread  over  the  earth  the  light,  and  joy,  and  peace  of  man's 
golden  age. 

Such  are  the  indications  of  the  near  approach  of  the  posi- 
tive experiment.  The  old  must  die.  The  mighty  whom  the 
earth  has  worshiped,  must  fall.  One  after,  another,  the  schemes 
and  appliances  for  human  civilization  must  spend  themselves. 
Yet  not  in  vain  have  they  lived  and  wrought.  Those  forests 
that  stretch  across  our  western  world  must  die.  Those  grand 
old  trees,  amid  whose  majestic  tops  the  winds  have  moaned 
the  requiem  of  centuries  ;  that  exuberant  life  which  age  after 
age  has  renewed  itself,  and  sjDread  the  shade  of  its  foliage  over 


SECULAR    AND    CHRISTIAN    CIVILIZATION.      205 

the  swarthy  Indian  and  his  wild  prey,  even  they  must  fall. 
But  thon.gh  they  fall,  yet  not  without  a  purpose  of  good  have 
they  so  long  existed.  That  life  above  has  created  the  mold 
of  a  nobler  life  than  its  own  :  that  deposit  of  ages  past,  hurled 
downward  by  autumn  winds  and  rotted  by  winter  rains,  is 
the  soil,  deep,  rich,  exhaustless,  which,  uncovered  to  the  sun, 
is  yet  to  nourish  countless  myriads.  The  genius  of  a  nobler 
civilization  cries  to  us  :  "  Girdle  those  wide-spreading  giants  ; 
heed  not  the  tossing  of  their  brawny  arms  against  the  wintry 
sky  ;  heed  not  the  gi-andeur  and  the  loveliness,  the  pride  and 
majesty,  the  wealth  of  life  and  grace  and  motion,  with  which 
they  rise  between  you  and  the  burning  sun  of  summer  ! 
Below  their  shade,  brutes,  reptiles,  beasts  of  prey  nestle  on 
the  very  soil  that  would  minister  wealth  to  starving  myriads. 
Down  then  with  the  majesty  of  rank  !  let  in  the  sun  !  let  in 
the  plow  !  bring  forth  the  cradle  and  hoe  !"  Behold  !  a  new 
scene  opens.  The  wild  winds  sing  their  requiem  no  more  ; 
the  war-whoop  startles  us  no  more  ;  the  catamount  and  the 
deer  have  hied  them  to  other  lands.  But  around  us  smiles  a 
noble  civilization.  The  tasteful  farm-house,  the  clustering 
village,  fields  waving  with  grain,  meet  the  eye ;  the  lowing 
of  cattle,  the  hum  of  commerce,  the  snort  of  the  steam-horse, 
the  merry  voices  of  children,  fall  upon  the  ear.  The  school- 
house,  the  academy,  the  college,  rise  before  us  in  all  the 
beauty  of  art ;  while  conspicuous  among  them,  the  crown  of 
earth's  richest  possession,  the  truest  source  of  abiding  pros- 
perity, the  church  of  the  Kedeemer,  sits  queenly. 

Thus  will  it  be  when  this  protracted  drama  shall  approach 
its  close.  Those  wondrous  forms  and  institutions  of  the  past, 
through  which  man  has  in  vain  sought  to  liken  himself  to 
God,  must  crumble.  Egypt,  with  her  solemn  temples  and 
rock-built  pyramids  ;  Greece,  with  her  beauteous  diadem  of 
illustrious  minds,  her  bright  and  joyous  Acropolis  ;  Jerusa- 
lem, with  her  awful  tabernacle,  her  priestly  train,  her  splen- 
did ritual ;  Rome,  with  all  the  magnificence  of  her  forum,  her 
vast  Coliseum,  her  monumental  arches,  her  noble  Basilicas, 
and  her  stern,  unflinching  justice ;  Rome  spiritual,  with  all 


206  LITEKARY     ADDRESSES. 

that  art  wliicli  she  has  made  religion,  her  Vatican  palaces 
and  lihraries  and  paintings,  the  robes  of  her  harlotry,  with 
that  world-renowned  trophy  of  Ms  skill,  Great  Angelo  ! — 
these,  and  a  hundred  others  less  grand  and  mighty,  must  all 
pass  away.  Upon  your  decaying  majesty,  your  marble  mau- 
soleums, your  crumbling  castles,  your  works  of  mightiest 
genius,  we  gaze  with  wonder,  spell-bound  with  that  fascina- 
tion which  so  long  made  you  the  mistresses  of  the  world.  Yet 
when  we  look  beneath,  look  at  the  popu^lace,  at  the  publicans 
and  sinners,  at  the  foul  reptiles  that  found  a  covert  under 
your  shade,  the  unclean  birds  that  reveled  in  your  dim,  reli- 
gious light,  and  amid  your  grand  leafy  aisles,  we  waken  from 
that  dream  of  joy,  and  welcome  your  conquerors,  and  light 
the  torch  that  shall  send  the  flame  crackling  and  roaring 
through  all  your  pride.  Another  world  is  opened  as  ye  fall ; 
another  civilization  begins  its  course  as  ye  decay,  as  far  above 
yours  as  yours  was  above  that  of  the  savage  in  his  wild  home. 
As  one  after  another  these  earthly  schemes  reveal  their 
powerlessness,  the  system  of  redemption  by  Christ  will  attract 
to  itself  the  hearts  of  the  world.  Entering  the  mind  and 
forming  it  first  for  the  life  to  come,  it  will  in  its  progress 
fashion  the  noblest  sons  of  earth,  develop  their  finest  attri- 
butes in  harmony,  link  religion  to  genius,  and  cause  genius 
to  bring  forth  finer  products  than  history  has  ever  recorded. 
From  that  state  of  elevated  humanity,  idleness,  enervating 
luxury,  pinching  poverty,  blood-thirsty  war,  bloated  drunk- 
enness, licentiousness  with  its  lustful  eye  and  insatiate  appe- 
tite, court-room  wrangles,  ignorance  with  its  idiot  merriment 
and  its  unskillful  hands,  passion  in  its  rudderless  vessel,  with 
its  unsheathed  dagger — all  these  and  whatsoever  else  doth 
wound  and  corrupt  society,  shall  be  banished.  Then  shall 
that  divine  wisdom,  instinct  with  divine  power  working  in 
the  heart,  and  out  in  the  life,  give  health,  vigor  and  beauty 
to  man  ;  harmonize  conflicting  interests  ;  purify  all  social  in- 
tercourse ;  guide  all  energies  to  noble  ends  ;  and  elevate  the 
intellect  into  a  clear  atmosphere,  where  the  glorious  forms  of 
science  shall  appear  in  harmony  and  light.     Then  knowledge 


SECULAK    AND    CHKISTIAN    CIVILIZATION.      207 

shall  daily  grow  in  accuracy  and  extent,  unfolding  the  mys- 
terious forms  of  nature,  and  their  application  to  now  unknown 
ends  of  practical  utility.  Then  mechanism,  associated  with 
the  finest  powers  of  genius  and  invention,  shall  push  aside 
the  common  mode  of  labor,  alleviate  the  condition  of  toil,  and 
lift  poverty  to  competence.  The  sweat  of  man's  brow  will 
not  stream  so  copiously  ;  the  earth  will  bring  forth  her  weeds 
less  luxuriantly ;  and  the  face  of  nature  will  be  as  the  garden 
of  the  Lord.  Then  Art  shall  have  its  resurrection,  its  true 
inspiration.  No  longer  substituted  for  religion,  and  worshiped 
as  God,  it  shall  come  forth  to  minister  to  spiritual  religion, 
and  assist  in  guiding  man  back  to  the  Infinite,  It  shall  rear 
our  temples  and  dwellings  in  forms  that  will  awe  and  tran- 
quillize and  gladden  the  heart,  speaking  to  it  as  doth  nature 
in  the  roar  of  the  ocean  or  the  wailing  of  the  forest.  Then 
grace  and  motion,  then  all  sounds  of  harmony  and  melody, 
all  forms  of  beauty,  shall  harmonize  with  the  works  of  wis- 
dom and  power  around  us  ;  and  the  outer  life  of  man  possess 
a  loveliness,  a  bright  and  joyous  character,  indicative  of  the 
purity,  the  peace,  the  science  and  the  faith  of  his  spirit.  Such, 
in  faint  outline,  will  be  that  better  state  to  which  the  race  is 
advancing,  and  to  which  it  will  attain  when  the  experiment 
of  Christianity  shall  be  fully  tried. 

At  length,  even  this  positive  experiment  shall  have 
wrought  its  results.  Then  will  come  the  final  gathering  up, 
and  comparison  of  both  the  negative  and  positive  trials. 
What  a  scene  will  that  be,  when  the  life,  the  deeds,  the 
whole  panorama  of  antediluvian  existence  shall  be  displayed. 
A  manuscript  history,  begun  by  Adam,  continued  by  Methu- 
selah, and  completed  by  Noah^  would  set  the  world  on  fire 
with  eager  desire  to  behold  and  read.  But  this  scene,  tran- 
scending all  such  imperfect  testimonies,  will  place  that  an- 
cient life  in  all  its  minutest  operations  before  our  eyes  and 
those  of  the  universe.  Thus,  too,  will  Assyiia,  Babylon,  and 
Egypt,  all  be  raised  to  life,  and  seem  to  move  before  us. 
Each  experiment,  however  small  or  great,  will  take  its  just 
position  in  that  vast  exliibition,  like  the  separate  features  of 


208  LITEEARY     ADDRESSES. 

a  luminous  painting  ;  while  in  contrast  with  them  all,  shines 
forth  this  last  and  grandest  scene  of  Christian  civilization  ;  a 
race  fallen,  in  ruins,  whom  no  plenteousness  of  food,  no  free- 
dom of  government,  no  influence  of  art,  no  teachings  of  sci- 
ence, no  sanctions  of  law  could  refine,  elevated  to  the  liighest 
point  of  earthly  aggrandizement,  by  the  inworking  force  of 
that  truth,  the  Lamb  of  God  slain  for  the  sins  of  men, 
AND  THE  Spirit  of  God  bestowed  for  the  purification 
OF  polluted  sinners. 

Young  Gentlemen  of  the  Calliopean  Society  : 

The  theme  which  to-day  I  commend  to  your  consideration 
IS  profound  as  the  providence  and  vast  as  the  plans  of  the 
Infinite.  Its  stage  is  the  world  ;  its  season,  the  whole  prog- 
ress of  time  ;  its  subject,  man  in  his  flow  of  life  from  the 
creation  to  the  conflagration.  You  are  about  to  go  forth  in- 
to the  world  as  men  of  power  to  mold  the  elements  of  society 
into  form.  To  which  of  these  experiments  will  you  stand 
committed  .^  Will  you  be  of  those  whom  the  past  can  not 
instruct ;  who  are  ever  repeating  the  same  trials  to  issue  in 
the  same  defeats  ;  who  know  not  how  to  bless  the  world  save 
by  patching  anew  exploded  systems,  imagining  them  all-]Dow- 
erful  to  secure  the  noblest  civilization  of  the  race  ?  Or  wdll 
it  not  be  your  lofty  aim,  reviewing  to  some  purpose  the  fail- 
ures which  are  strewn  along  the  course  of  human  empire,  dis- 
trusting the  guides  that  hitherto  have  always  led  astray,  the 
forces  that  have  failed  in  the  hour  of  need,  to  identify  your- 
selves as  hearty  co-workers  in  this  positive  experiment  of 
Christian  civilization  !  Come,  let  us  go  forth  into  these  for- 
ests ;  let  the  trees  foil  and  the  jilow  enter.  A  new  age  is 
opening — the  last.  For  this  the  walls  of  this  institution  were 
reared  ;  for  this  its  friends  have  struggled.  They  have  labored 
at  these  foundations,  not  that  science  might  hold  up  heredi- 
tary evils  or  assume  lordship  over  nobler  influences  ;  but  that 
as  a  gentle  handmaid,  whose  life  is  richest  in  association  with 
religion,  she  might  go  forth  in  you  to  spread  abroad  the  truth 
of  Christianity.     I  rejoice  to-day,  in  the  heart  of  this  young 


SECULAR     AND     CHRISTIAN     CIVILIZATION.      209 

but  great  State,  to  witness  such  scenes  as  these,  to  behold  such 
institutions  rise,  and  sucli  men  of  solid  worth  laboring  at  the 
foundations  of  a  rising  empire.  From  this  jDoint,  I  anticipate 
your  history.  I  place  myself  in  imagination  at  the  opening 
of  another  century  ;  I  behold  a  State  of  vast  capacity,  studded 
with  cities,  towns,  villages,  farm-houses.  I  see  millions  re- 
joicing in  abundance,  of  pure  morals,  ennobled  by  science, 
adorned  by  art.  I  see  this  institution  grown  into  a  university, 
with  its  schools  of  theology,  of  law,  of  medicine,  and  of  use- 
ful arts,  frequented  by  hundreds  of  ingenuous  youth,  and  send- 
ing a  quickening  influence  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State, 
abroad  over  our  country  and  the  world.  I  behold  a  people 
rich  in  all  the  elements  of  Christian  civilization,  of  vast  en- 
terprise, of  sterling  piety,  sending  forth  their  sons  to  assist  in 
the  full  redemption  of  the  world.  The  field  is  large,  the  pros- 
pect grand,  the  toil  great.  Enter  it  manfully,  in  the  strength 
of  another  and  higher  power,  and  you  shall  be  enrolled  as  those 
who  set  in  motion  the  trains  of  influence  that  are  to  issue  in 
these  noble  results,  and  assist  in  giving  form  to  the  future 
grandeur  of  your  noble  State. 

14 


YII. 

OBSTACLES  AND  ENCOURAGEMENTS  TO  MISSIONARY 
EFFORT  IN  THE  ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  CHURCH  * 

At  the  first  promulgation  of  a  system  of  opinions  that  is 
designed  vitally  to  affect  the  character  and  happiness  of  vast 
multitudes,  there  is  usually  room  for  much  uncertainty, 
doubt,  and  unbelief.  Its  power  to  effect  the  objects  for 
which  it  is  promulged,  is  yet  to  be  tested.  However  fair 
in  theory,  it  may  yet  be  found,  like  thousands  of  other  sys- 
tems of  faith,  utterly  defective  in  its  practical  working.  But 
where  time  has  evinced  its  capacity  to  accomphsh  results  of 
the  noblest  character  ;  when  success  has  given  to  that  which 
was  once  a  theory,  all  the  certainty  of  a  law  of  nature  ;  then 
the  season  for  doubt  is  past ;  then,  when  the  capacity  to 
overcome  obstacles  has  been  fairly  developed,  faith,  unap- 
palled  by  the  presence  of  stupendous  difficulties,  rises  into  the 
calm  confidence  of  perfect  assurance.  To  this  stage  in  her 
progress  has  Christianity  attained.  The  conversion  of  the 
world,  the  grand  object  which  it  proposes,  is  not  a  problem 
to  be  solved  by  future  success.  Religion  has  already  evinced 
its  capacity  to  effect  so  vast  a  work  ;  it  is  not  a  novelty, 
thrown  as  a  meteor  upon  the  world.  We  are  not  launching, 
Columbus-like,  on  an  unknown  sea,  in  search  of  an  unknown 
land.  Our  faith  is  one  of  centuries.  It  has  passed  through 
trials  of  the  severest  character,  and  come  out  of  them  un- 
scathed. It  has  effected  great  things.  Its  triumphs  stand 
out  on  the  records  of  the  world,  like  a  succession  of  splendid 
miracles.     The  early  history  of  Christianity,  anterior  to  the 

*  A  lecture  delivered  before  the  Boston  Young  Men's  Society  for  Diffusing 
Missionary  Knowledge. 


OBSTACLES    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.    211 

full  development  of  the  papacy,  rouses  the  soul  like  a 
clarion. 

In  judging,  however,  of  the  Church,  as  it  existed  at  that 
day,  we  are  frequently  subject  to  an  illusion  of  the  most  dis- 
couraging character.  Distance  contracts  ages  to  a  point. 
The  bold  and  splendid  results  are  seen,  while  the  means  by 
which  they  were  attained,  are  either  wholly  overlooked  or 
regarded  as  supernatural,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  the  present 
age.  We  see  the 'disciples  battling  with  Judaism,  and  hear 
the  cries  of  dying  martyrs  ;  we  see  in  motion  the  machinery 
of  gifts  miraculous  and  wonderful ;  presently  the  shoutings 
of  victory  swell  upon  the  ear,  and  the  empire  is  the  home  of 
our  faith.  But  we  forget  the  ages  of  toil  that  elapsed  ere 
that  grand  event  was  reached ;  we  overlook  the  ten  thousand 
humble  instrumentalities — such  as  the  meanest  Christian 
may  wield  at  this  day — through  which  the  victory  was 
mainly  achieved.  The  splendor  of  apostolic  gifts,  which,  in 
fiict,  continued  only  for  a  brief  period,  seems  to  rest  upon  the 
Church  during  the  time  of  her  travail ;  while  the  faith,  the 
patience,  the  simple  preaching  of  the  gospel,  the  toil  that 
knew  no  weariness,  and  the  love  that  never  faltered,  through 
which  the  work  was  actually  consummated,  are  either  not 
regarded  at  all,  or  considered  to  be  light-armed  auxiliaries  to 
the  solid  phalanx  of  apostolic  powers.  As  the  natural  result 
of  such  impressions,  there  exists  an  opinion  that  the  first 
three  centuries  of  Christianity  constituted  its  golden  age  ; 
that  the  Church  was  then  in  possession  of  resources  vastly 
more  effective  than  those  now  in  her  hands  ;  and  that  the 
obstacles  which  then  opposed  her  progress  were  neither  so 
great  in  themselves  nor  so  numerous  as  those  which  exist  at 
the  present  day.  That  such  an  opinion  is  not,  in  every  re- 
spect, warranted  by  the  facts,  we  think  can  easily  be  shown. 
This  will  be  manifest  from  an  attentive  comparison  of  the 
obstacles  to  the  success  of  the  gospel  in  these  different  periods, 
and  the  means  2:>ossessed  by  the  Church  for  overcoming  them. 

In  prosecuting  this  comparison,  it  will  only  be  necessary 
to  allude  to  that  deep-seated  depravity  which  constitutes  in 


212  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

itself  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  advance  of  the  gospel.  This 
force  of  evil  has  lived  aud  worked  iu  eveiy  period  of  man's  his- 
tory. Time,  that  changes  and  modifies  all  else,  has  wrought 
no  change  here.  It  pervades  all  human  society  ;  it  tenants 
the  rude  hut  of  the  savage  ;  it  dwells  amid  the  groves  of  sci- 
ence and  the  palaces  of  art ;  nor  is  it  wholly  absent  from  the 
temples  and  the  altars  of  a  Christian  people.  It  gives  to 
en'or  its  force,  to  superstition  its  perpetuity,  to  all  the  influ- 
ences hostile  to  Christianity,  their  living  vigor.  It  is  peculiar 
to  no  age,  to  no  people,  to  no  clime.  In  it  religion  expects 
ever  to  find  a  foe  unconquerable  as  death,  and  immortal  as 
time. 

It  is  equally  unnecessary  for  me  to  dwell  on  that  spiritual 
organization — mysterious  to  the  Christian,  the  theme  of  ridi- 
cule to  the  world — which  the  Scriptures  announce  to  us  as 
the  most  powerful  in  giving  scope  ,  to  human  depravity,  and 
in  wielding  the  forces  of  evil  against  the  cross.  In  common 
with  the  ancient  Christian,  we  fight  with  princiiDalities  and 
powers  in  high  places,  and  until  the  mighty  angel  shall  de- 
scend, to  bind  the  prince  and  scatter  his  legions,  the  Church 
must  expect  to  meet  now,  as  in  apostolic  times,  forces  equip- 
ped, organized,  and  led  on,  by  a  chief  who  once  shone  the 
morning  star  of  heaven's  intelligences. 

The  power  of  the  gospel  to  surmount  these  prime  ob- 
stacles has  always  been  the  same.  The  agency  of  the  Spirit 
and  the  gospel  are  ever  with  her.  And  I  dismiss  this  point 
with  the  remark,  that,  as  the  miracle-working  power,  in  all 
probability,  did  not  pass  far  if  at  all  beyond  the  age  of  the 
apostles,  the  early  Church,  for  the  last  two  hundred  years 
of  its  fierce  and  bloody  struggle,  was  thrown  uj^on  precisely 
the  same  resources  with  those  now  possessed  by  the  modern 
Church — the  common  influences  of  the  Spirit  enforcing  the 
gospel. 

Let  us  now  compare  the  relative  situation  of  the  Church 
to  the  governments  of  the  world  during  the  first  three  cen- 
turies of  her  existence,  and  at  the  present  time.  In  looking 
back  upon  the  ancient  Church,  we  are  at  once  struck  by  the 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.        213 

fact  that  she  had  to  do  mainly  with  one  immense  govern- 
ment. While  it  is  possible  that  her  missionaries  may  have 
passed  the  Euphrates  or  even  the  Indus,  it  is  certain  that  the 
Roman  empire  was  their  great  field  of  conflict.  That  empire 
was  now  in  the  zenith  of  her  glory.  Its  boundaries  swept 
around  all  the  mighty  kingdoms  that  live  in  the  ancient  rec- 
ords of  our  race.  Her  eagle,  in  its  immense  gyrations,  spread 
its  wing  over  the  civilized  world.  The  empires  of  antiquity, 
the  world  of  knowledge  and  of  civilization,  all  lay  panting 
beneath  the  foot  of  Rome. 

At  this  period  of  her  history,  the  power  of  the  empire  had 
in  reality  passed  away  from  the  Senate.  It  was  all  concen- 
tred in  a  single  arm.  A  single  mind  directed  the  movements 
of  this  huge  government ;  a  single  hand  wielded  the  energies 
of  the  millions  that  paid  tribute  to  Rome.  So  perfect  was 
this  power,  the  slightest  whisper  of  that  mind  could  be  heard 
in  the  remotest  corner  of  the  empire  ;  the  wave  of  that  hand 
was  instantly  seen  and  felt  in  the  forests  of  Britain,  on  the 
sands  of  Libya,  and  along  the  banks  of  the  Eujjhrates.  The 
mighty  despot  reached  forth  ten  thousand  arms  to  execute 
his  imperial  will.  The  engines  of  his  power  were  set  wp  in 
every  province,  in  every  city,  in  every  sequestered  vale  of 
human  habitation.  While,  to  curb  the  lawlessness  of  such 
colossal  greatness,  the  moral  power  of  the  opinion  of  the 
world,  which  now  operates  so  effectually  upon  the  proudest 
thrones,  had  then  no  force.  From  the  decree  of  this  tremen- 
dous despotism  there  was  no  appeal,  save  to  the  high  chan- 
cery of  heaven. 

It  was  in  the  bosom  of  such  an  empire  that  Christianity 
arose.  For  the  first  few  years,  it  was  suffered  to  work  its 
way  silently  and  freely.  Rome  as  yet  understood  not  its 
character.  To  her  it  was  but  one  of  a  thousand  religions. 
Tiberius  does  not  hesitate  to  provide  a  niche  in  the  Pantheon 
for  Jesus  Christ.  The  opposition  it  encountered,  sprang  from 
the  Jew,  the  Pagan  priest  and  philosopher,  rather  than  from 
the  imperial  government.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before 
the  clamors  of  the  idolatrous  multitude  entered  the  palace  of 


214  LITERAEY     ADDEESSES. 

the  Caesars.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  proximate  causes, 
which  at  jmrticnlar  seasons  kindled  the  fires  of  persecution, 
the  grand  cause  of  their  existence  is  obvious.  It  consisted  in 
the  total  opposition  existing  between  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  worship,  the  customs,  the  character  of  the 
influential  portion  of  the  empire.  Christianity  undeified  their 
gods,  dashed  down  their  idols,  overturned  their  altars,  anathe- 
matized their  priests,  and  cast  contempt  on  whatever  was  most 
sacred,  most  ancient,  most  admired.  Then  began  to  lower 
those  storms,  which,  with  some  short  intervals  of  repose,  for 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  flashed  and  thundered  along  the 
Christian's  path.  From  these,  escape  was  impossible.  Should 
the  unhappy  victim  retire  into  some  remote  corner  of  the  em- 
pire ?  But  the  edict  of  destruction  had  anticipated  his  flight, 
and  where  he  hoped  for  safety,  he  met  the  iron  grasp  of  a  Ro- 
man prefect.  Wherever  the  Christian  turned,  the  same  dark 
form  was  frowning  upon  him  ;  the  cries  of  martyrs,  mingled 
with  the  shouts  of  the  amphitheater,  ever  rang  in  his  ear.  There 
was,  then,  no  sacred  home  of  freedom  to  which  the  oppressed 
might  flee.  The  world  was  one  vast  empire,  and  the  tremen- 
dous enginery  of  its  power  was  everywhere  in  motion,  for 
nearly  three  centuries,  to  uproot  the  cross.  Such  was  the 
nature  of  that  governmental  opposition,  against  which  the 
feeble  band  of  early  Christians  fought,  and  over  which  they 
triumphed. 

Comj)are  with  this  the  situation  of  our  modern  Church. 
The  civilized  world  is  now  divided  into  a  number  of  indepen- 
dent sovereignties.  Of  these,  several  are  on  the  side  of  Prot- 
estant Clii'istianity.  And  when  I  say  they  are  on  the  side 
of  true  Christianity,  it  is  meant  either  that  their  governments 
explicitly  recognize  it  as  the  religion  of  the  state,  as  in  En- 
gland, or  that  the  great  mass  of  those  who  create  the  govern- 
ment, and  of  those  who  constitute  it,  are  avowedly  behevers 
in  the  Christian  revelation.  Of  these  nations.  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  are  the  most  powerful,  and  most  de- 
cidedly influential  in  promoting  the  evangelization  of  the 
world.     They  embosom  the  wealth  and  the  piety  which  are 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.         215 

to  carry  the  gospel  to  every  land,  and  resuscitate  the  half- 
extinguished  iires  of  true  religion  on  the  altars  of  nominal 
Christendom.  In  general  influence  upon  the  world  at  large, 
no  other  nation  can  come  into  comparison  with  them.  The 
commerce  of  the  world,  now  one  of  the  most  eiFective  chains 
of  brotherhood,  and  destined  to  exert  a  mighty  influence  in 
the  overthrow  of  superstition,  barbarism  and  ignorance,  is  in 
their  hands.  Their  fleets  are  on  every  sea  ;  their  warehouses 
in  eveiy  port ;  their  representatives  are  found  wherever  there 
is  wealth  to  be  gathered,  or  a  government  to  be  influenced  by 
their  presence. 

Nor  is  this  all.  Millions  of  the  heathen  world  are  directly 
subject  to  one  of  these  governments.  Great  Britain,  for  the 
last  two  hundred  years,  has  been  advancing  in  the  career  of 
conquest,  until  her  subjects  have  multiplied  from  a  dozen  to 
more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  millions  ;  her  possessions  have 
expanded  from  that  little  central  isle  until  they  gird  the 
globe  ;  and,  from  holding  as  a  feudal  lord  the  throne  of  En- 
gland, she  has  placed  her  foot  upon  the  neck  of  empires  vast, 
populous  and  ancient.  But  yesterday,  you  heard  the  roar  of 
her  cannon  before  Beyrout ;  and  every  breeze  that  sweeps 
westward,  bears  to  us  the  thundering  of  her  artillery  upon 
the  commercial  metropolis  of  China. 

The  effect  of  this  general  influence,  we  doubt  not,  is  gi*eatly 
to  the  advantage  of  Christianity.  That  this  haj)py  result 
has  been  diminished  by  the  presence  of  great  evils,  is  not  to 
be  denied.  Commerce,  mainly  employing  as  its  instruments 
those  who  have  no  sympathy  with  the  religion  of  the  cross  ; 
conquests  originating  in  an  all-grasping  avarice  or  ambition  ; 
won  by  the  sacrifice  of  holocausts  of  human  victims  on  the 
altar  of  war ;  and  maintained  by  a  system  of  oppression, 
which  deliberately  weighs  the  happiness  of  millions  of  im- 
mortal minds  in  the  balance  with  gold,  all  tend,  in  some  re- 
spects, to  weaken  the  influence  of  Christianity  on  the  con- 
science of  the  Pagan.  Yet,  in  spite  of  these  counteracting 
causes,  there  has  gone  forth,  and  is  going  forth,  from  this 
very  commerce,  and  these  vast  conquests,  an  influence  which 


216  LITEKAET     ADDKESSES. 

is  destined,  we  believe,  to  revolutionize  the  world.  Already 
have  they  brought  whole  nations,  while  they  feol  the  force  of 
our  arms,  to  respect  our  religion.  They  have  opened  more 
extensive  fields  of  labor  before  the  missionaries,  and  they  have 
also  given  them  security,  so  that  the  name  of  either  an  En- 
glishman or  an  American  has  been  a  charm  more  potent  than 
was  anciently  that  of  a  Roman  citizen. 

Casting  our  eyes  beyond  the  governments  directly  under 
the  control  of  Protestant  influence,  we  see  a  number  of  States, 
nominally  Christian,  yet  so  sunk  in  gross  superstition  as  to 
possess  little  of  Christianity  besides  the  name. 

In  respect  to  most  of  them,  one  feet  is  worthy  of  our  no- 
tice. The  principles  of  Christian  toleration  are  working  their 
way  into  their  courts,  and  modifying  the  whole  machinery  of 
their  governments.  Nations,  which  a  century  ago  expelled 
Protestantism  from  their  shores,  now  receive  it  with  open 
arms,  or  sufier  it  to  cany  forward  its  peaceful  work  un- 
checked. The  spectacle  of  religious  persecution  in  any  coun- 
try, no  matter  what  may  be  the  sufferer's  faith,  now  interests 
and  arouses  the  civilized  world.  That  which,  a  few  years 
ago,  was  made  a  part  of  the  ordinary  business  of  some  gov- 
ernments, would  now  outrage  the  moral  feelings  of  civilized 
society.  Austria  can  not  even  exile  her  inquiring  peasantry, 
far  less  torture  them  at  the  rack,  or  burn  them  at  the  stake  ; 
nay,  even  despotic  Turkey  may  not  bastinado  a  poor  Jew,  on 
account  of  his  faith,  without  calling  forth  indignant  remon- 
strance, long  and  loud,  from  every  part  of  Christendom.  To 
this  great  end  also  have  those  political  revolutions  been  work- 
ing, which  of  late  have  shaken  so  many  thrones,  and  burst  so 
many  chains.  While  they  have  given  to  subjects  a  higher 
political  importance,  they  have  infused  into  proud  rulers  a 
salutary  caution  how  they  tread  upon  those  most  sacred  jewels 
of  liberty — the  rights  of  conscience. 

In  this  steady  advance  of  the  princij)les  of  toleration 
among  civilized  States,  Christianity  has  reason  for  present 
joy  and  future  hope  ;  for  the  prevalence  of  such  opinions  is 
both  the  sign  of  the  silent  influence  she  has  already  gained, 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.        217 

and  the  foundation  on  which  she  can  proceed  to  rebuild  her 
decaying  temples,  and  reopen  her  smoldering  fires,  among 
the  nations  only  nominally  her  friends.  What,  I  ask,  has 
created  this  power  of  public  opinion,  before  which  the  scep- 
ters of  kings  are  lowered  ?  What  has  brought  it  about  that 
governments,  whose  grand  argument  was  the  sword  in  every 
contest  of  right,  are  now  compelled  to  respect  the  opinion  of 
the  great  family  of  Christian  States  ?  Neither  the  increased 
facilities  of  national  intercourse,  nor  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion, nor  the  terrific  march  of  revolution,  alone  or  combined, 
could  have  effected  it,  had  not  a  purer  Christianity  breathed 
around  the  loftiest  thrones  the  mild  spirit  of  religion,  inspir- 
ing a  state  of  public  feeling  in  which  might  can  no  longer  pass 
as  the  synonym  of  right,  brute  force  as  the  strongest  argu- 
ment of  justice. 

Under  these  better  influences,  the  most  bigoted  govern- 
ments are  relaxing  the  strictness  of  their  ecclesiastical  regi- 
men. Spain,  proud  and  lordly  in  her  rags,  whose  bigotry 
reared  and  perfected  the  honid  Inquisition,  whose  fields  were 
fertilized  by  the  ashes,  and  her  broad  rivers  dyed  with  the 
blood  of  innumerable  martyrs,  whose  records  are  a  history  of 
intolerance,  written  in  characters  of  blood  and  fire,  and  over 
whom,  as  the  result  of  that  stern  bigotry,  there  have  brooded 
centuries  of  dense  darkness — even  she  has  at  last  burst  her 
chains.  The  Bible  is  read  on  her  sunny  hills  ;  a  highway, 
broad  and  free,  is  rising  for  the  chariot  of  the  Prince  of  peace. 

If  now  we  bring  into  view  the  Pagan  and  Mohammedan 
world,  the  same  great  fact,  with  an  occasional  excej^tion,  is 
proved  to  be  true.  Governmental  oj^position  is  gradually 
relaxing  its  strictness  under  the  general  influence  of  the  civil- 
ized. Egypt  and  the  wide  dependencies  of  Turkey  are  open- 
ing their  ports  to  the  Christian  missionary.  Nor  should  we 
be  surprised  were  the  decree  of  death,  fulminated  by  the  Ko- 
ran against  the  apostate  from  Islamism,  ere  long  to  become  a 
dead  statute  into  which  no  earthly  power  dare  breathe  life. 
The  scepter  of  Protestant  England  stretches  over  a  hundred 
millions  of  the  worshipers  of  Brahma.     From  the  Ganges  to 


218  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

the  Indus,  from  Travancore  to  Cashmere,  that  vast,  populous, 
ancient  land,  crowded  with  villages,  teeming  with  a  luxuriant 
vegetation,  is  023en  to  correct  religious  influences.  Beyond  it 
is  China ;  an  empire  which  no  Christian  can  contemplate  in 
the  greatness  of  its  extent,  its  high  antiquity,  the  immense 
masses  of  immortal  heings  that  swarm  in  its  cities  and  darken 
its  waters,  and  in  that  stubhorn  exclusion,  mingled  with  af- 
fected contempt  of  all  those  foreign  influences  which  might 
work  out  the  elevation  and  salvation  of  the  people,  without 
being  moved  to  wonder,  to  pity,  and  almost  to  despair. 

Even  here,  however,  are  the  dawnings  of  better  days. 
Around  that  vast  empire  there  are  clustering  mighty  influ- 
ences from  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  which,  like  the  atmos- 
phere, she  can  not  exclude,  and  before  which  her  iron  insti- 
tutions must  ere  long  be  greatly  modified,  or  crumble  to 
utter  ruin.  It  is  impossible  for  the  utmost  power  of  the 
mightiest  human  will  to  give  eternity  to  such  institutions, 
when  the  whole  world  is  rushing  by  them  in  a  swift  and 
broad  tide  of  improvement.  Yield  they  must  to  the  accumu- 
lating pressure.  Her  only  hope  for  the  perpetuity  of  her 
present  institutions,  is  a  wall  of  entire  non-intercourse  with 
the  whole  world,  higher,  broader,  more  impassable  than  that 
monument  of  industrious  folly  reared  against  the  Tartar 
horde ;  while  millions  of  her  people,  beyond  her  control,  are 
subject  to  the  influence  of  Christianity  ;  while  she  herself  is 
encompassed  with  the  commerce  of  civilized  States  ;  and 
while  she  is  obliged  occasionally  to  quail  before  the  barbarian 
power,  so  long  will  she  be  exposed  to  a  revolution  which  will 
shake  her  government  to  the  ground.  Nor  need  we  wait  long 
for  decided  changes  in  her  policy.  Let  the  influences  which 
but  recently  have  begun  to  surround  her,  operate  with  con- 
stantly increasing  force  for  less  than  half  a  century,  and  we 
shall  not  want  the  pen  of  heaven-rapt  Isaiah  to  predict  the 
fall  of  this  greater  Babylon. 

In  whatever  light,  therefore,  we  compare  the  situation  of 
Christianity,  in  respect  to  the  governments  of  the  world  at 
the  present  time,  with  that  of  the  first  ages  of  the  Church, 


I 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.        219 

we  find  every  thing  to  encourage  us.     Here  she  has  gained 
vastly  in  the  struggle  of  eighteen  hundred  years.     We  have 
come  out  of  the  caves  and  forests  where  the  ancients  were 
hunted.      The  mightiest  governments  are  ours.      Even  the 
progress  of  free  institutions,  the  political  convulsions  and  the 
wide-spread  revolutions,  which  are  giving  freedom  to  rising 
humanity,  are  either  bearing  onward  the  car  of  life,  or  rear- 
ing up  broad  highways,  on  which  it  may  roll  over  the  world. 
Our  next  point  of  comparison,  between  the  ancient  and 
modern  Church,  respects  the  systems  of  religion  they  have 
respectively  to  encounter.     Two  large  and  ancient  religions, 
the  one  of  the  Jew,  the  other  of  the  Pagan,  in  the  days  of 
early  Christianity,  as  now,  resisted  the  advance  of  the  gospel, 
with  an  uncompromising  and  vigorous  hostility.     The  Jew 
was  the  first  great  opponent  of  the  cross.     The  early  propa- 
gators of  our  faith  struck  at  this  system  with  far  greater  suc- 
cess than  has  the  Church  since  that  period.     The  very  origin 
of  Christianity  then  gave  it  a  power  the  course  of  time  has 
partially  destroyed.     It  sprang  out  of  the  bosom  of  Israel ;  it 
grew  up  beside  their  altar  and  their  temple  ;  its  most  thrill- 
ing scenes  were  enacted  on  that  sacred  soil,  bedewed  with  the 
tears  and  blood  of  the  faithful,  vocal  with  the  inspirations  of 
holy  seers,  hallowed  by  the  flaming  shekinah,  the  splendid 
worship,  the  visible  footprints  of  the   dread  Jehovah  im- 
pressed on  every  hill  and  vale.     It  was  not  a  foreign  religion. 
It  was  the  ofi'spring  of  their  own  worship,  the  fulfillment  of 
their  prophecies,  the  grand  and  crowning  scene  toward  which 
for  ages  their  hopes,  their  prayers,  their  joys,  their  bloody 
worship,  had  all  been  pointing.     The  prime  actor  in  it  was 
of  the  kingly  house  of  David.     Its  great  apostles  were  sons 
of  Abraham.     To  the  Jew,  in  whose  veins  flowed  the  blood 
of  their  illustrious  sire,  with  whom  they  worshiped  at  the 
same  altar,  breathing  with  them  from  childhood's  hour  the 
inspiration  of  their  glorious  history,  they  could  preach  of  the 
Messiah  with  a  force  hardly  to  be  reached  by  the  Church 
at  this  day.     Christianity  has  passed  away  from  the  country 
and  the  nation  of  its  earliest  love.      Its  dwelling-place  is 


220  LITERAEY     ADDEESSES, 

with  the  Gentile,  who  for  centuries  has  ground  the  outcast 
and  saddened  Israelite  beneath  the  iron  heel  of  a  despotic 
power.  In  the  view  of  that  downtrodden  nation,  all  the 
prejudices  of  an  abhon-ed,  a  foreign  superstition,  cluster 
around  the  Christian  religion. 

There  was  much,  also,  in  the  time  when  Christianity  first 
arose,  that  then  gave  it  power  over  this  race.     It  appeared  at 
a  time  when  the  lines  of  a  long  series  of  most  splendid  proph- 
ecies, which  for  ages  had  been  converging,  seemed  to  have 
reached  the  point  of  fulfillment.     The  power  of  Rome  hung 
over  the  sacred  land,  and  they  knew  not  how  soon  its  black, 
dense  clouds  would  pour  down  their  sheets  of  flame.     The 
bosom  of  the  nation,  as  of  one  man,  throbbed  Avith  intense 
expectation  of  the  sj^eedy  manifestation  of  the  great  Deliv- 
erer.    And  when  Christianity  arose,  it  found  a  mighty  advo- 
cate in  those  powerful  sympathies  and  exciting  hopes  of  the 
people.    It  carried  with  it  all  the  authority  of  prophecy,  such 
as  then  lived  in  the  hearts,  glowed  on  the  lips,  pervaded  the 
worship,  and  molded  the  character  of  the  entire  race.     Christ 
stood  before  them  as  the  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy ;  and 
though  his  lowly  condition  corresponded  not  with  their  lofty 
expectations,  yet  every  argument  he  urged  in  demonstration 
of  His  Messiahship,  came  home  to  their  hearts  enforced  by 
all  the  associations  of  their  youth  and  manhood.     Their  an- 
cient prophets  seemed  to  descend  from  their  high  abode  to 
bear  their  testimony  to,  and  shed  their  homage  around,  this 
illustrious  Being.      But  with  that  age,  these  feelings  have 
passed  away.    From  earliest  infancy  the  Jew  has  been  taught 
to  execrate  the  Christian's  faith,  and  the  anathemas  under 
whose  intolerable  burden  he  has  groaned  have  given  force  to 
the  lesson.     For  centuries  the  ingenuity  of  wit,  the  refine- 
ments of  sophistry,  the  parade  of  learning,  and  the  force  of 
authority  have  been  combined  to  bring  into  contempt  the 
Christian  interpretation  of  Messianic  prophecies.    And,  while 
under  the  tuition  of  patriarchs  and  rabbis,  of  the  Talmud 
and  Gemara,  he  has  become  versed  in  the  tactics  of  evasion 
and   subterfuge,  at  the  same  time  the  entire  force  of  his 


OBSTACLES,     ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.        221 

education  steels  his  bosom  against  the  religion  of  the  Naz- 
arene. 

In  some  respects,  however,  the  modern  Church  occupies  a 
position  of  influence  over  this  people  above  that  of  the  ancient. 
This  very  dispersion,  this  outpouring  of  the  long-gathering 
flood  that  swept  them  from  Judea  and  strewed  them  in  wrecks 
on  every  shore,  was  minutely  described  in  the  sacred  records 
three  thousand  years  ago.  On  the  pages  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment the  same  dark  events  are  foretold  with  equal  distinct- 
ness. The  Christian  Church,  in  her  efi'orts  for  the  conversion 
of  Israel,  proceeds  upon  the  firm  foundation  of  prophecy  ful- 
filled, such  as  affords  the  most  indubitable  evidence  of  the 
divine  origin  of  our  faith.  Other  circumstances  combine  to 
heighten  the  force  of  this  argument.  The  lengthened  dark- 
ness of  that  night,  which,  in  fulfillment  of  these  prophetic 
denunciations,  has  brooded  over  this  nation  for  nearly  two 
thousand  years,  has  not  been  without  its  influence  for  good. 
As  meteor  after  meteor  has  flashed  across  the  sky  and  disap- 
peared, leaving  only  increasing  darkness  ;  as  prophet  after 
prophet  has  reared  the  standard  of  Messiah,  only  to  have  it 
lowered  in  blood  and  shame,  so  the  hopes  of  this  people  have 
been  often  raised,  only  to  be  dashed  to  the  earth.  No  star  of 
Bethlehem  cheers  the  hearts  of  these  anxious  watchers.  Hope 
is  retiring  before  the  increasing  darkness  of  this  starless  night. 
Prophecy,  such  as  Christianity  authorizes,  so  sadly,  so  sternly 
fulfilled,  is  sadly  working  in  multitudes  the  fearfully  joyful 
conviction  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  their  long-expected  Mes- 
siah. Thus  time  itself  is  elaborating  an  argument,  of  all 
others  the  most  powerful,  to  dispel  those  bright  illusions  by 
which  the  Jew  is  blinded  to  the  glory  of  the  cross. 

The  other  great  opponent  of  Christianity  was  the  Pagan. 
The  conflict  with  Paganism,  as  it  then  existed  under  the 
forms  of  Atheism,  Pantheism,  and  Polytheism,  convulsed 
the  whole  Roman  empire.  It  was  then  in  its  manhood.  Poe- 
try praised  it ;  philosophy  smiled  upon  it ;  the  populace  adored 
it ;  and  the  entire  force  of  the  State  was  enlisted  in  its  de- 
fense.    No  circumstance  was  wanting  that  could  contribute 


222  LITEEARY     ADDRESSES. 

to  enhance  tlie  formidable  opposition  it  made  to  the  cross.  It 
was  then  in  the  full  maturity  of  its  strength  ;  the  passions 
of  the  great,  the  wisdom  of  the  learned,  the  prejudices  of  the 
vulgar,  with  the  immense  power  of  that  vast  State,  consti- 
tuted the  wall  of  its  defense.  Yet  so  mightily  did  the  truth 
of  Christ  work,  that  in  less  than  three  centuries  it  set  at  de- 
fiance the  omnipotence  of  Rome,  won  the  emperor,  and  swept 
away  the  worship  of  the  ancient  gods.  The  huge  and  mas- 
sive superstition  crumbled  down  before  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tian truth. 

At  this  day  more  than  half  the  human  family  are  the  de- 
votees of  the  rudest  forms  of  Paganism  ;  while  here,  at  home, 
beside  the  very  altars  of  a  Christian  people,  there  is  springing 
up  a  refined  Paganism,  beautiful  as  poetry,  profound  as  mys- 
ticism, and  coiTupt  as  the  most  depraved  movings  of  the  hu- 
man heart.  This  hybrid  issue  of  a  spurious  philosophy  and 
a  degenerate  Christianity,  after  having  poisoned  the  life-blood 
of  one  Christian  nation,  has  crossed  the  ocean  to  seek  the  re- 
ligious empire  of  this  new  world.  But  in  this  conflict,  though 
it  be  with  new  and  varied  forms  of  this  old  error,  the  Church 
occupies  a  position  far  above  that  from  which  she  waged  war 
with  the  Paganism  of  Rome.  Her  weapons  of  offense  and 
defense  have  been  accumulating  for  eighteen  centuries.  They 
are  wielded  by  the  strength  inspired  in  a  thousand  victories, 
with  the  science  gained  in  the  war  of  ages. 

Such  were  the  two  great  systems  of  religion  by  which 
Christianity  was  then  opposed.  But,  at  the  present  day,  she 
has  to  meet  not  only  these,  but  other  religions,  the  growth  of 
subsequent  ages,  framed  for  dominion,  large  in  resources,  and 
bitter  in  hostility  to  the  cross. 

In  the  opening  of  the  seventh  centuiy,  there  sprang  up, 
amidst  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  a  system  of  religion  which, 
from  that  day  to  this,  has  presented  one  of  the  most  formid- 
able obstacles  to  the  advance  of  Christianity.  Its  theology 
is  one  bold,  grand  truth,  enforcing  an  equally  bold  lie.  "  There 
is  hut  one  God."  This  was  the  thunderbolt  Mohammed  hurled 
among  the  idols  of  Mecca.     "Mohammed  is  his  prophet." 


I 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.       223 

This  was  the  imposition  which  gave  to  this  truth  the  demon- 
stration of  the  sword.  Here  has  ever  been  the  great  secret  of 
Mohammed's  success.  He  was  a  prophet,  through  whom 
Heaven  blazed  forth  its  revelations  to  an  idolatrous  world. 
He  was  a  chieftain,  commissioned  to  enforce  the  will  of  Heaven 
by  the  terror  of  arms.  In  establishing  his  system,  he  brought 
to  his  aid  two  of  the  most  powerful  and  most  permanent 
passions  of  our  nature.  He  roused  the  ardor  of  war  ;  he 
awoke  the  enthusiasm  of  religion ;  and,  as  if  to  ensure  the 
perpetuity  of  their  union,  he  consecrated  the  first  by  the  au- 
thority of  the  second,  and  gathered  around  the  unholy  alliance 
all  the  attractions  of  sensuality  and  ambition.  Inspired  by 
such  a  religion,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  wonder  that  the  fiery 
Saracen,  sweeping  in  a  whirlwind  over  western  Asia,  over  Af- 
rica and  Spain,  should  have  dashed  down  the  Pagan's  idols, 
trodden  in  scorn  upon  the  corrupt  institutions  of  a  degenerate 
Christianity,  and  ended  by  the  establishment  of  one  of  the 
most  powerful  dynasties  that  ever  swayed  the  scepter  of  do- 
minion. 

The  situation  of  this  system  of  religion,  which  but  a  few 
centuries  ago  shook  the  mightiest  thrones  in  Europe  to  their 
base,  is  full  of  encouragement  to  the  Christian.  Its  youth 
has  gone  ;  the  signs  of  decrepit  age  mark  all  its  movements. 
The  empire  shrunk  to  a  tenth  of  its  former  extent — rebel 
provinces  resisting  successfully  the  power  of  the  Sultan, — 
State  after  State  in  quick  succession  assuming  an  attitude  of 
indeiDcndence,  while  the  proud  son  of  Othman  is  forced  to 
crouch  before  Christian  sovereigns,  a  royal  beggar  for  the  po- 
litical existence  of  his  people. 

Other  nations  around,  and  mingled  with  this  race,  are 
rapidly  advancing  in  science  and  power ;  the  Greek,  the  Jew, 
the  Armenian,  are  daily  rising  in  intelligence.  Mohamme- 
danism alone  is  sinking  into  an  atrophy.  Her  efforts  to  rise 
are  the  struggles  of  a  man  in  a  morass,  which  serve  only  to 
show  her  own  impotence  and  the  impossibility  of  her  rescue 
by  foreign  hands.  Unlike  Christianity,  which,  in  the  six- 
teenth century, — when  the  world  was  breaking  loose  from  her 


224  LITEKAKY      ADDRESSES. 

intellectual  bondage — with  the  giant  vigor  of  youth,  shook 
off  the  incumbent  mass  of  sujjerstition,  and  took  the  lead  of 
science  in  the  disenthrallment  of  the  human  mind — Islam  ism 
embosoms  no  elements  of  revivification.  Its  rehgion  and  its 
customs  are  all  stei'eotyped  after  the  pattern  of  the  days  of 
darkness.  And  as  the  courage,  the  enthusiasm,  the  hardi- 
hood of  its  mountain  and  desert-nourished  youth,  vanish 
under  the  influence  of  luxury  and  repose,  there  remains  no 
vital  force  to  rebuild  her  moldering  walls,  to  prop  her  falling 
buttresses,  to  hold  her  up  in  th^  struggle  for  advancement 
with  the  great  powers  of  Christendom. 

Mohammedanism  is  thus  retiring  before  the  onward  march 
of  the  civilized  world.  Change  she  can  not  without  outraging 
the  piety  of  every  true  Mussulman  ;  for  her  religion  forbids 
those  changes  of  government  and  manners  which  are  neces- 
sary to  her  advancement.  -  If  she  clings  to  her  ecclesiastical 
policy,  her  political  damnation  is  inevitable.  If,  breaking 
away  from  these  trammels,  she  launches  forth  upon  the  wild 
sea  of  political  experiment,  then  her  religion  must  founder 
and  go  down  for  ever.  How  long  it  will  be  before  the  can- 
non which  have  desolated  the  fairest  towns  of  Syria,  and 
curbed  the  iron  spirit  of  the  rebel  pacha,  shall  be  pointed  at 
the  seraglio  of  the  sulfcan,  man  can  not  j^redict.  But  the 
voice  of  Providence,  borne  to  us  on  every  breeze,  declares  that 
the  decree  against  this  once  terrible  power  has  gone  forth. 
The  allied  power  of  all  Europe  may  retard,  but  it  can  not 
stop  the  descending  bolt.  The  haughty  and  cruel  Ottoman, 
whose  tread  of  death  has  crushed  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
millions,  whose  sway  has  consigned  to  solitude  and  decay  the 
garden  spots  of  earth,  whose  presence  is  a  moral  upas  beneath 
which  science  dies,  and  the  living  vigor  of  the  immortal  spirit 
withers — that  power  which  has  sought  only  to  enslave,  never 
to  deliver  ;  to  destroy,  never  to  build  up  ; — is  hastening  to 
dissolution.  And  when  the  empire  of  Othman  falls,  when 
once  the  throne  of  the  sultan,  like  that  of  the  caliph,  crum- 
bles, then  assuredly  cometh  the  jubilee  of  Christianity  over 
prostrate  Islamism.     Far  and  wide  as  the  religion  of  Moham-  , 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIOlv'ARY    EFFORT.       225 

med  is  diffused,  its  professors,  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe, 
from  the  sands  of  Ethiopia,  the  mountains  of  Tartary,  and 
the  distant  shores  of  China,  all  turn  their  eyes  with  anx- 
ious gaze  to  Constantinople,  as  the  last  refuge  of  their  faith. 
When  once  the  stone  cut  out  from  the  mountain  -without 
hands,  shall  strike  this  colossus,  when  once  its  mosques  shall 
echo  to  the  voice  of  Christian  worshipers,  the  death-knell  of 
Islamism  will  be  sounded  over  the  earth.  Not  more  surely 
will  the  arch  fall  whose  key-stone  is  rent  away,  than  will  this 
huge  edifice  of  religious  imposture  tumble  into  ruins,  when 
once  the  empire  of  the  Turk  is  overturned.  It  was  the  Turk 
who  came  to  the  succor  of  this  religion  when  the  dynasty  of 
the  caliphs  was  in  ruins  at  his  feet.  This  young,  bold,  hardy 
race  of  Tartars  infused  new  life  into  the  religion  of  the  con- 
quered Saracen,  wheii  it  was  rapidly  tending  to  decay.  And 
as  the  sultan  falls  into  the  same  grave  his  ancestors  dug  for 
the  caliph,  what  new  power  will  arise  to  bid  the  decaying 
tree  flourish  green  again  over  their  sepulchers  ? 

About  the  same  period  in  which  Mohammed  appeared, 
another  religious  system,  equally  corrupt  and  still  more  for- 
midable to  true  Christianity,  sprang  up  in  her  bosom.  The 
influences  which  originated  the  Papacy  had  been  operating 
since  apostolic  days.  But  amidst  the  fire  and  the  sword  of 
persecution,  the  system  could  not  reach  its  full  development. 
It  waited  for  the  installation  of  Christianity  as  the  State  reli- 
gion of  the  civilized  world.  That  great  event  gave  to  the 
Church  splendid  temples  for  its  worship,  princely  wealth  and 
power  for  its  ministers.  Amidst  the  sudden  splendor  that 
encompassed  her,  as  she  emerged  from  the  caverns  and  the 
lairs  whither  persecution  had  driven  her,  ambition,  lordly, 
coiTupt,  and  all  grasping,  wove  that  triple  crown,  which, 
within  little  more  than  a  century,  pressed  the  brow  of  the 
bishop  of  Rome,  and  before  wliich  the  crowns  of  Europe's 
proudest  sovereigns  have  often  been  lowered.  I  need  not 
dwell  upon  the  character  of  this  spiritual  despotism.  Suffice 
it  here  to  remark,  that  of  all  the  forces  of  evil  aiTayed  against 
the  early  Church,  not  one  can  be  compared  with  this. 

15 


226  LITERAEY     ADDRESSES. 

Yet,  with  this  terrible  power,  Christianity  has  abeady 
fought,  under  circumstances  the  most  unfavorable  to  success, 
and  triumphed.  The  same  weapons  which  then  won  the  vic- 
tory are  now  in  our  hands  ;  the  energy,  which  then  shook 
down  so  many  pillars  of  this  vast  structure,  still  lives  to  carry 
onward  the  work  of  reformation.  Nor  is  it  true,  as  it  has 
been  asserted,  that  the  relative  positions  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity and  the  Pajiacy,  are  nearly  the  same  as  they  were  left 
by  the  Reformation.  It  may  be  true  that  the  Pope  wields  a 
scepter  over  as  many  millions  now,  as  he  did  then  ;  but  who 
is  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  this  power  is,  in  many  cases,  little 
more  than  nominal.  Slowly,  indeed,  as  moral  forces  usually 
work,  until  they  reach  the  crisis  of  sudden  development,  but 
no  less  surely,  has  the  spiritual  despotism  of  Rome  been  losing 
its  hold  upon  the  conscience  of  mankind.  Government  after 
government  has  broken  its  political  power,  until  the  old  man 
on  the  Tiber  has  become  an  enthroned  cij)her  amidst  the 
gigantic  powers  of  Europe.  Nor  is  it  a  small  matter  in  our 
favor,  that  tliis  religion,  ever  clinging  to  the  thrones  of  des- 
potism and  courting  their  darkness,  is  failing  before  the  march 
of  revolution  and  the  progress  of  free  principles.  The  advance 
of  human  society  is  against  the  power  which  reached  its  giant 
height  only  amidst  the  darkness  of  the  middle  ages.  Hence, 
in  every  part  of  the  world,  where  the  principles  of  liberty  and 
the  elements  of  science  are  the  common  property  of  the  peo- 
ple, this  system  makes  no  advance.  True  it  is,  that  in  both 
this  land  and  in  that  of  our  fathers,  it  has  exhibited  within 
the  last  few  years  an  unwonted  vigor.  But  what  religion  ever 
yet  died  without  exhibiting  signs  of  returning  animation  ? 
The  wick,  just  ready  to  expire,  flashes  up  for  an  instant  with 
singular  brightness  ;  the  body,  from  which  life  is  fast  depart- 
ing, is  convulsed  to  its  extremities  ere  the  fainting  heart 
ceases  to  beat.  Mohammedanism  itself,  now  that  its  death- 
knell  is  about  to  be  rung,  is  going  forth  on  missions  of  prop- 
agandism  to  Central  Africa.  And  can  any  one  suppose  that 
a  religious  despotism  of  this  tremendous  power  will  die  as  an 
infant  falls  asleep,  and  not  as  a  giant  tosses  and  heaves  his 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.       227 

unwieldy  frame,  before  liis  cry  of  agony  is  hushed  for 
ever  ? 

In  concluding  this  comparison  of  the  religious  influences 
hostile  to  the  ancient  and  modern  Church,  it  is  necessary  to 
notice  the  opposition  of  infidelity  and  erroneous  forms  of 
Christian  doctrine.  In  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  the  great 
conflict  was  with  Paganism.  A  system  which  denied  the 
truth  of  Christianity,  of  Paganism,  and  of  Judaism,  which, 
while  it  trod  upon  the  Bible,  laughed  at  the  rites  of  the  Pan- 
theon, existed  indeed  ;  but  it  was  an  esoteric  doctrine,  hidden 
within  the  groves  of  the  philosopher  and  the  cloister  of  the 
priest.  That  bold  and  shameless  infidelity,  which,  since  the 
Refoi'mation  has  stniggiod  so  fiercely  to  sweep  Christianity 
from  the  earth,  had  not  yet  appeared.  It  was  the  offspring 
of  a  later  age.  The  mental  agitations,  the  amazing  intellect- 
ual activity,  to  which  the  efforts  of  the  reformers  in  heaAdng 
off  the  superstitions  of  Rome  had  given  birth,  in  connection 
with  the  frightful  licentiousness  engendered  by  the  operation 
for  centuries  of  a  corrupt  religion,  quickened  into  life,  and 
gave  character  and  force  to  the  delusion  of  modern  infidelity. 
The  influence  of  the  Reformation,  in  awakening  the  intellect, 
extended  far  beyond  the  counteracting  influence  of  its  doc- 
trines. The  public  mind  was  everywhere  aroused  by  the  ex- 
citing nature  of  the  contest.  The  old  channels  of  thought 
were  forsaken,  the  old  landmarks  of  doctrine  were  swept  away, 
and  the  great  deep  was  broken  up.  Nor  is  it  a  matter  of 
surprise  that,  in  countries  where  the  truths  of  the  Reforma- 
tion were  not  suficred  to  root  themselves,  or  where  they  could 
gi'ow  only  in  the  hot-house  of  State  patronage,  infidelity 
should  have  reached  up  to  so  lofty  a  height. 

With  this  fierce,  proud,  and  malignant  opponent,  Chris- 
tianity has  been  obliged  to  grapple  in  circumstances,  than 
Avhich  none  could  be  more  favorable  for  the  total  rout  of  her 
forces.  Against  her  were  arrayed  the  highest  powers  of  wit 
and  science.  Heaven  suffered  minds  of  the  first  order  to  waste 
their  energies  in  support  of  this  negation  of  truth.  There  is 
scarcely  a  single  department  of  intellectual  labor  in  which 


228  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

infidelity  has  not  had  distinguished  advocates.  It  has  gone 
down  into  the  subterranean  depths  of  metaphysics,  and  labored 
with  the  energy  of  a  Hume  to  upheave  the  foundations  of  hu- 
man belief.  It  has  traversed  the  sunny  fields  of  literature, 
and  breathed  its  poison  on  the  page  of  history.  It  has  as- 
.  cended  the  rostrum  of  the  statesman,  and  in  the  costume  of 
liberty  has  employed  the  force  of  eloquence  to  subvert  the 
noble  truths  of  Christian  freedom.  It  has  sat  on  the  high 
places  of  sacred  literature,  corrupting  the  fountains  of  relig- 
ious influence,  and  prostituting  the  acquisitions  of  learning  to 
the  horrid  work  of  debauching  the  teachers  of  men.  It  has 
even  gone  up  into  the  pulpit  and  wielded  the  heavenly  sym- 
pathies, attractions,  and  powers  of  that  sacred  place  against 
the  life  of  that  religion  which  gave  them  existence.  Not  sat- 
isfied with  this  wide  range  of  efl'ort,  it  has  descended  into  the 
styes  of  human  corruption,  and  there,  by  ribaldry,  by  false- 
hood, by  pandering  to  all  the  licentious  desires  of  man,  it  has 
toiled  with  insane  energy  to  shut  the  door  of  refonnation  upon 
the  criminal,  and  extinguish  for  ever  the  still  glimmering  spark 
of  hope  in  the  breast  of  the  abandoned. 

In  conducting  these  wide-spread  ojjerations,  it  brought  to 
its  aid  all  the  then  present  and  well-remembered  corruptions 
of  a  most  degenerate  Christianity.  The  infidel  wielded  the 
corruptions  of  the  Church  against  the  very  life  of  the  Church. 
The  pride  of  the  hierarchy,  the  licentiousness  of  the  priest- 
hood, the  bigoted  ignorance  of  churchmen,  the  blood  of  heroic 
martyrs,  and  the  contemptible  fooleries  by  which  the  mul- 
titude were  deluded,  which  had  defiled  the  history  of  the 
Church  for  centuries,  gave  to  a  keen-sighted  infidelity  an  im- 
mense advantage  over  its  opponent.  The  former  boasted  of 
its  tendency  to  disenthrall  the  mind  ;  it  was  about  to  intro- 
duce the  jubilee  of  knowledge,  refinement,  liberty,  and  equal- 
ity. The  latter,  wherever  it  turned,  was  met  by  the  hideous 
form  of  that  corruption  which  had  preyed  for  ages  upon  the 
peace,  morality,  and  hberties  of  men,  TJie  tendencies  of  the 
former  were  not  yet  fully  developed.  It  had  not  yet  enjoyed 
space  and  opportunity  for  the  manifestation  of  its  character. 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONAKY    EFFORT.        229 

The  latter,  for  a  cycle  of  years,  had  been  the  dominant  reli- 
gion of  Europe,  and  partially  of  Asia  and  Africa.  Around 
the  former  clustered  all  the  attractions  of  novelty,  and  large 
hope  ;  around  the  latter,  the  damning  persecutions,  con'up- 
tions,  hypocrisies,  and  failures  of  centuries.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances the  conflict  hegan,  and  with  such  weapons  it  was 
carried  forward. 

For  a  time  these  vast  efforts  portended  the  ruin  of  the 
Christian  cause.  But  it  was  only  for  a  brief  season.  These 
hordes  of  the  infidel  ravaged,  but  they  did  not  conquer ;  they 
passed  over  the  land  with  fire  and  sword ;  but  they  roused 
the  ardor  of  Christian  zeal.  They  taught  the  Christian  the 
discipline  of  their  arms.  Momentary  defeat  became  the  means 
of  the  more  comj^lete  and  permanent  triumph  of  the  cross. 
A  thousand  intellects  concentered  their  keen  vision  upon  the 
evidences  of  Christianity.  The  fields  of  sacred  history  and 
science  were  trodden  in  every  part  by  men  of  robust  under- 
standing, boundless  learning,  and  profound  judgment.  With 
infinite  toil,  with  inexhaustible  patience,  with  superhuman 
energy,  they  labored  at  the  defense  of  our  faith.  Around 
Christianity  they  reared  bulwarks,  high,  massive,  impreg- 
nable to  the  assaults  of  irreligion.  They  did  still  more  than 
this  ;  they  entered  the  domains  of  the  infidel.  History  was 
met  by  history,  philosophy  by  philosophy,  research  by  still 
deeper  research.  At  every  step  the  arms  of  infidelity  were 
turned  against  itself.  Meanwhile  the  mask  fell  from  this 
mockery  of  religion.  It  stood  forth  disclosed  in  its  naked 
ugliness  before  the  world.  Heaven  suffered  it  to  occupy  a 
noble  theatre  on  which  to  act  out  its  true  character  in  the 
view  of  all  coming  time.  From  that  scene  of  raging  passions, 
wild  uproar,  legalized  hate,  lust  and  butchery,  I  need  not 
draw  the  vail.  The  memory  of  that  time  fills  the  soul  with 
horror.  That  scene  inspired  courage  into  the  Christian, 
while  it  covered  the  face  of  the  infidel  with  paleness.  His 
chosen  vantage  ground  was  wi-ested  from  him.  Where  are 
now  the  boasts,  the  jubilations,  the  paeans  of  triumph  in  an- 
ticiimtion  of  the  speedy  fall  of  Christianity,  which  then  deaf- 


230  LITEKARY     ADDRESSES. 

ened  the  ear  of  Heaven  ?  Where  is  now  that  host  of  philoso- 
phers, wits,  poets,  historians,  statesmen,  and  crowned  heads, 
which  Httle  .more  than  half  a  centmy  ago  licked  the  dust 
trodden  by  the  feet  of  the  strumpet  goddess  of  infidelity  ? 
The  song  of  triumph  has  ceased  ;  the  loud  huzzas  are  hushed. 
The  swellings  of  that  wretched  atheism,  instead  of  engulf- 
ing, have  borne  the  ark  of  Christian  truth  high  on  the  solid 
earth.  Doubtless  this  opponent  will  still  continue  to  resist 
the  advance  of  the  cross.  We  know  not,  indeed,  but  that  he 
is  even  now  summoning  his  energies  for  another  fearful  strug- 
gle. Nor  is  it  improbable  that  with  him  Christianity  is  des- 
tined to  grapple  most  vigorously  in  the  conflict  which  is  to 
chain  the  prince  of  darkness  and  usher  in  the  millennial  morn. 
Yet  she  fights  with  an  oft-conquered  foe  ;  around  her  are  the 
trophies  of  victory  and  the  impregnable  defenses  of  our  faith. 
The  Church  has  reached  a  position  which  commands  the  en- 
tire field. 

In  addition  to  this  great  obstacle,  Christianity  has  to  con- 
tend with  others,  springing  up  in  her  own  ranks.  There  is,  in 
the  breast  of  the  impenitent,  a  spirit  hostile  to  the  humiliating 
truths  of  the  gospel,  while  at  the  same  time  conscience,  un- 
able to  find  repose  in  a  system  of  barren  negations,  impels  to 
the  adoption  of  con-ect  religious  principles.  To  satisfy  the 
demands  of  conscience,  the  costume  of  religion  is  preserved ; 
to  gratify  the  spirit  of  infidelity,  the  life  of  religion  is  refined 
away.  To  the  joint  influence  of  these  forces  is  mainly  due 
the  production  of  numerous  errors,  adorned,  outwardly,  with 
the  blazonings  of  true  religion,  but  exhibiting,  to  the  atten- 
tive observer,  only  an  emasculated  Christianity. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  early  Church  was  greatly 
injured  by  the  prevalence  of  numerous  forms  of  error  among 
her  own  disciples.  Aside  from  the  causes  already  assigned, 
which  had  peculiar  force  over  minds  wholly  strangers  to  gen- 
uine piety,  there  were  others  which  operated  to  lead  astray 
the  truly  pious.  It  was  an  age  of  much  popular  ignorance. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Grreek  and  the  Jew,  the  great  mass 
of  the  people  dwelt  on  the  confines  of  barbaiism  and  civiliza- 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.        231 

tion.  In  such  circumstances,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  error 
would  spring  up,  even  under  the  preaching  of  the  most  en- 
lightened and  cautious  teachers.  But,  besides  the  general 
ignorance  of  the  people,  their  best  educated  and  most  intelli- 
gent instructors  were,  in  many  instances,  imbued  with  a  phi- 
losophy as  unlike  that  of  the  cross  as  paganism  is  unlike  the 
law  of  Moses.  The  influence  of  this  false  philosophy  was  de- 
plorably bad.  The  ignorance  of  a  people  unaccustomed  to 
draw  nice  moral  distinctions,  and  the  scarcity  of  the  Word, 
under  the  slow  transcriptions  of  the  scribe,  gave  full  scope  to 
the  workings  of  this  philosophy.  The  results  are  everywhere 
visible  in  the  errors  which  mar  almost  every  page  in  the  early 
and  subsequent  history  of  the  Church.  Nor  is  it  extravagant 
to  affirm  that  these,  almost  as  much  as  the  power  of  heathen- 
ism itself,  clogged  the  chariot  wheels  of  salvation.  If  the 
battle-ax  of  a  pagan  Celsus  now  and  then  dashed  down  a 
parapet,  the  weapons  of  a  philosophic  Origen  were  tire-brands 
scattered  within  the  sacred  city. 

In  the  conflict  with  errors  of  this  character,  the  modern 
Church  has,  in  some  respects,  the  advantage  over  the  ancient. 
The  mental  collisions  and  accumulated  research  of  eighteen 
hundred  years  have  given  greater  definiteness  both  to  the 
views  of  truth  and  the  perceptions  of  error.  While  it  is 
undoubtedly  true  that  the  early  Christians  seized  hold  of  the 
grand  truths  of  the  gospel,  it  is  no  less  true  that  the  systori 
of  truth  it  embodied  was  but  dimly  apprehended.  The  minor 
points  of  doctrine,  the  relation  of  the  different  parts  of  the 
system  to  each  other,  were  not  understood.  The  main  points 
of  a  system  may  be  easily  apprehended,  while  their  relations 
to  each  other  may  demand  the  investigations  of  centuries  fully 
to  unfold  them.  It  is  here  that  there  is  room  for  advancement 
in  the  knowledge  of  Christianity ;  science  can  not,  indeed,  bet- 
ter the  Bible,  but  it  may  aid  us  in  bringing  out  what  is  in  the 
Bible.  It  can  not  prune  and  alter,  and  modify,  and  practically 
annihilate  any  of  the  truths  actually  to  be  found  therein  ;  but 
it  may  contribute  to  the  more  perfect  development  of  their  re- 
lations to  each  other.     Without  arrogance,  no  one  can  affirnj 


232  LITEKARY     ADDRESSES. 

that,  in  tlie  mode  of  ioterpreting  the  sacred  Oracles,  he  has 
reached  perfection  in  theory  and  in  practice.  Far  less  can  this 
be  asserted  of  the  ancients.  We  know  that  some  of  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  they  reasoned  are  false.  Nor  is  it  too  much  to 
say  that,  in  this  respect,  there  has  been  a  great  advance  since 
the  days  of  the  Fathers.  Indeed,  the  circumstances  of  the 
early  Church  were,  in  the  main,  unfavorable  to  the  profound 
investigation  and  calm  discussion  of  the  minor  truths.  It  was 
an  age  of  persecution,  when  men  were  obhged  to  cling  to  the 
strong  points  of  truth.  It  was  an  age  of  missionary  action, 
when  the  energies  of  the  Church  were  mainly  directed  to  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel.  There  was  httle  opportunity  for 
quiet  meditation,  except  in  the  cell  of  the  monk,  and  the 
cave  of  the  heiinit,  to  which  the  latter  part  of  this  period 
gave  rise. 

In  addition  to  the  advantages  enjoyed  by  the  modern 
Church,  in  more  definite  perceptions  of  the  system  of  truth, 
there  is  a  familiarity  with  the  character  and  workings  of  en'or 
which  enables  her  to  devise  and  execute  the  measures  necessaiy 
for  its  overthrow.  The  incessant  warfare  with  it,  in  which  she 
has  so  long  been  engaged,  has  given  her  a  keen  perception  of 
its  multiform  character  and  protean  asj)ect ;  an  experimental 
acquaintance  with  the  operations  by  which  it  is  ever  attempt- 
ing to  subvert  the  truth.  It  would  be  passing  beyond  the 
limits  of  rational  conjecture  to  assert,  with  one  of  the  most 
original  vsriters  of  this  age,  that  the  fields  of  en-or  have  all 
been  sown,  the  harvest  reaped,  and  that,  for  the  future,  it  can 
only  reproduce  antiquated  and  exposed  dogmas.  It  is  not  im- 
probable that  such  vast  systems  of  impostm'e,  as  that  of  the 
Papacy,  have  all  appeared.  In  this  late  age  of  the  world,  it 
seems  hardly  probable  that  other  systems  will  arise  to  rival 
the  deadly  influence  of  this.  Such  elaborate  and  systematized 
errors  are  the  result  of  the  silent  workings  of  centuries  ;  their 
power  is  only  overthrown  after  ages  of  conflict.  But  with  this 
exception,  as  society  advances,  as  the  relations  of  tha  difierent 
parts  of  truth  become  more  fully  developed,  as  each  age  bears 
;in  impress  peculiar  to  itself,  we  must  exjject  that  error  will 


OBSTAOLKS,    ETC.,    TO     MISSIONARY     EFFORT.        233 

throw  off  its  antiquated  costume  and  adapt  itself  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  times.  It  is  always  one  in  essence  ;  diversified  in 
its  manifestations  as  the  firmament ;  yet,  even  on  this  suppo- 
sition, the  knowledge  possessed  by  the  Church  of  the  past  ap- 
pearances and  operations  of  error  is  of  immense  advantage. 
The  mind  of  the  Church  has  been  disciplined  to  a  rapid  de- 
tection of  the  advance  of  error  and  the  means  best  adapted  to 
meet  it.     The  past  has  made  her  wary,  deliberate,  skillful. 

The  only  remaining  point  of  comparison  between  the  an- 
cient and  modern  Church,  which  I  shall  notice,  is  the  litera- 
ture of  their  respective  times.  When  Christianity  arose,  the 
science  of  the  world  was  in  the  hands  of  its  op^jonents.  The 
canonized  shades  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  frowned  upon  it ; 
the  eagle-eyed  philosophy  of  Greece,  which  then  swayed  the 
scepter  of  science,  desi)ised  the  gospel  as  the  babblings  of  in- 
sanity. While  a  Tacitus  and  a  Juvenal  could  turn  away 
from  it  with  the  contemptuous  exclamation^ — "An  execrable 
superstition."  The  great  masters  in  the  realm  of  literature, 
the  minds  disciplined  to  thought,  and  rich  in  human  lore,  the 
philosophic  historian,  the  brilliant  poet,  the  astute  dialecti- 
cian, the  powerful  advocate,  the  large-minded  statesman,  with 
scarcely  a  single  exception,  out  of  Judea,  poured  their  fire 
upon  the  fisherman  of  Galilee. 

Look  now  abroad  upon  the  domain  of  the  heathen  world  ! 
The  orbs  of  its  pagan  glory  have  all  set ;  the  very  stars  which, 
in  such  luminous  constellations,  then  flamed  in  the  firma- 
ment, have  all  gone  down  to  rise,  in  fresh,  undying  radiance, 
upon  the  institutions  of  a  Christian  peo^jle.  There  is  dark- 
ness settling,  like  a  pall,  over  the  wide,  pagan  land.  While 
around  the  cross  is  gathered  the  mind,  the  knowledge,  the 
intellectual  enterprise  of  the  world.  It  is  not  asserted,  in- 
deed, that  men  of  science  are  uniformly  Christian  in  their 
convictions  or  their  practice.  Yet  it  is  true  that  Christianity 
embosoms  the  multitude  of  those  who  are  carrying  forward, 
with  indomitable  vigor,  the  triumphs  of  mind  ;  she  breathes 
into  them  the  spirit  of  inquiry  ;  she  calls  them  from  airy  and 
evanescent  dreams,  to  the,  practical,  the  real,  the  true.     On 


234  LITERAEY      ADDEESSES. 

her  liistoiy,  time  is  continually  engraving,  with  a  vividness 
that  shall  defy  the  lapse  of  ages,  names  as  hright,  as  radiant, 
as  powerful  in  the  influence  they  gave  to  the  advance  of  truth, 
as  any  to  he  found  in  the  scroll  of  this  world's  record.  Nor 
is  this  all  the  truth.  She  seizes  hold  of,  and  appropriates  to 
the  advance  of  her  own  great  objects,  the  discoveries,  the  toils 
of  her  most  hitter  foes.  She  domesticates  the  gifted  minds  of 
pagan  Greece  and  Rome  in  the  groves  of  her  academies  and  the 
halls  of  her  colleges.  She  wrests  from  the  hands  of  infidelity 
the  weapons  for  which  it  has  toiled,  with  wonderful  patience, 
amidst  the  mausoleums  of  Egypt's  grandeur  and  Egypt's  fame, 
and  plants  them  as  buttresses  around  the  truth  of  God.  Go, 
single  out  the  wanior  champion  of  infidelity,  a  Voltaire,  a 
Hume,  a  Diderot,  a  Gibbon  ;  and  I  will  show  you  one  from 
the  triumphs  of  whose  genius  Christianity  has  gathered,  and 
is  gathering,  the  materials  of  science,  wherewith  to  swell  her 
last  great  triumph  over  the  downfall  of  error  throughout  the 
world.  She  fears  not  the  development  of  truth  or  the  march 
of  science.  While  Rome  threatens  Cojjernicus,  and  imprisons 
Galileo,  she  cheers  on  her  Bacon,  rejoices  in  the  triumphs  of 
her  Newton,  and  with  a  force,  as  gentle  as  it  is  irresistible, 
compels  the  votary  of  science  to  bring  his  ofiering  to  her 
shrine.  She  believes  that  all  truth  is  one  in  its  source,  har- 
monious in  its  relations,  and  one  in  its  end.  The  progress  of 
true  learning,  she  regards  as  in  perfect  harmony  with  that  of 
true  rehgion.  In  the  widening  circle  of  science  she  beholds 
a  wider  field  for  the  triumphs  of  the  cross.  Hence  it  is  that, 
standing  on  the  mount  of  truth,  the  science  of  the  world  be- 
comes her  servitor. 

The  advantage  we  enjoy,  in  this  respect,  above  the  ancient 
Church,  is  obvious.  We  are  qualified  to  be  the  teachers  of 
the  heathen  world  in  science,  as  well  as  in  rehgion.  The 
learning  of  the  mass  of  the  followers  of  Mohammed  is  limited 
to  the  rhapsodies  of  the  Koran  ;  for  the  light  that  shone  around 
the  palaces  of  the  Moor  in  Spain  had  gone  out  long  before  he 
was  swept  from  her  shore.  And,  aside  from  the  flickering 
flame  that  may  yet  burn  in  Arabia  the  Happy,  the  entire 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.        235 

science  of  that  religious  imposture  would  not  equal  that  of  a 
Chnstian  schoolboy.  As  for  the  heathen  world  at  large,  it  has 
done  nothing,  for  ages,  but  stereotype  the  errors  of  its  anti- 
quity. Mind  is  stagnant.  The  mental  vigor  which  marked 
the  ages  of  Plato  and  Cicero  is  nowhere  to  be  found.  There 
is  no  bursting  away  from  the  eternal  round  of  hoary  iiuerili- 
ties  and  childish  superstitions.  But  the  grand  fact  here  to 
be  noticed  as  most  favorable  to  the  success  of  Christianity,  is 
that  their  systems  of  science  are  all  interlocked  with  those  of 
religion.  The  explosion  of  their  systems  of  learning  must 
rend  their  s}stems  of  faith.  And  as  our  schools,  with  the 
miracle-worker  of  the  modern  Church,  the  press,  upheaves 
the  absurdities  which  constitute  their  literature,  the  towering 
fabric  of  superstition,  reared  upon  it,  must  come  down. 

I  have  thus  taken  a  hurried  view  of  some  of  the  principal 
forces  arrayed  against  the  ancient  and  modern  Church,  in  con- 
nection with  the  resources  in  their  possession  to  overcome 
them.  With  these  facts  before  us,  who,  in  order  to  secure 
the  ultimate  and  most  enlarged  success  of  missionary  effort, 
could  wish  to  i^lace  the  Church  in  the  position  she  occupied 
when  Stephen  harangued  the  Sanhedrim  ;  when  Paul  preached 
to  the  most  intelligent  of  the  pagans,  from  the  steps  of  the 
Areopagus,  amidst  the  temples,  the  altars,  the  statues,  the 
splendid  monuments  of  Grecian  prowess,  piety,  and  science — 
beneath  the  shade  of  Nero's  palace,  in  view  of  the  Cohseum, 
crowded  with  its  scores  of  thousands  of  the  most  enlightened 
and  refined  of  Roman  citizens,  gloating  over  the  dying  agonies 
of  his  noble  coadjutors,  and  at  the  heart  of  that  colossal  em- 
pire whose  shadow  darkened  not  only  over  the  whole  civil- 
ized, but  of  vast  portions  of  the  barbarian  world  ?  To  effect 
such  a  change  in  the  jjosition  of  the  modern  Church  would  be 
to  transfer  the  mind,  the  intellectual  enterprise  of  the  world, 
from  her  friends  to  her  opponents — to  blot  out  all  that  ad- 
vance of  science  which  has  given  such  tremendous  power  to 
Christianity,  over  the  absurd  systems  of  heathen  literature — 
to  annihilate  the  press,  thereby  sweeping  away  the  multiplied 
facilities  of  this  age  for  the  diffusion  of  truth,  the  overthrow 


236  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

of  error,  and  bringing  back  upon  the  Church  the  night  when 
the  simple  word  of  Grod,  the  world's  great  consirvator,  was 
dependent  njDon  the  slow  pen  of  the  scribe  for  multipiication, 
at  the  cost  of  a  rich  man's  fortune,  and  the  gains  of  a  poor 
man's  life — to  break  up  the  mighty  chains  of  commerce,  foun- 
dering your  ships,  blowing  up  your  steamers,  giving  back  the 
needle  to  the  mine,  and  the  ocean  to  its  old  masters,  the  un- 
blessing  winds  and  storms — to  consolidate  the  various  nations 
of  the  world,  whose  very  rivalry  and  jarrings  are  hastening 
the  political  emancipation  of  man,  into  one  vast  despotism  ; 
its  energies  swayed  by  one  mind,  and  that  mind  filled  with 
exterminating  rage  toward  the  Christian  Church.  But  I  need 
not  complete  the  picture.  It  is  enough  for  us  to  know  that 
there  is  little  in  early  Christianity  of  which  we  regret  the 
loss  ;  that  there  is  nothing  in  present  difficulties  to  appall  ; 
and  we  have  every  thing  necessary,  in  the  outward  circum- 
stances of  the  Church,  both  to  inspire  ho^^e  and  check  pre- 
sumption. There  is  but  one  thing  wanting,  at  this  day,  in 
connection  with  these  advantages  which  the  ancient  Church 
possessed  in  a  most  remarkable  degree,  to  insure  the  most 
rapid,  wide-spread,  and  permanent  success — I  refer  to  the  de- 
votion, the  faith,  the  zeal,  with  which  the  Church  herself 
should  engage  in  this  work.  It  is  true,  and  it  is  a  truth  to 
be  deeply  pondered  by  men  of  enlarged  minds,  who  may  be 
skeptical  respecting  the  ultimate  triumph  of  our  religion, 
that  in  no  period  of  the  world's  history  has  there  existed  a 
greater  amount  of  intelligent,  well-balanced,  devoted  piety, 
than  in  this  age.  With  all  the  corruptions  in  doctrine,  and 
extravagance  in  measures  of  this  day  before  us,  the  assertion 
is  hazarded,  that  religion  has  never,  on  the  whole,  embraced 
less  of  fanaticism,  more  of  intelligence,  wealth,  and  enter- 
prise, than  at  this  moment.  Let  the  Church,  then,,  but  awake 
to  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  great  object  before  her,  and, 
imitating  the  self-consecration  of  the  early  Christians,  thi'ow 
herself  into  this  great  enterprise,  with  all  her  vast  resources, 
and  energy,  divine  and  resistless,  will  be  infused  into  her  ex- 
ertions, and  the  day  of  triumph  will  quickly  come.     In  the 


OBSTACLES,    ETC.,    TO    MISSIONARY    EFFORT.        237 

formation  of  this  association,  as  well  as  in  the  marshaling  of 
the  Christian  host  ahroad  throngh  the  world,  I  behold  the 
sign  of  the  rise  of  that  spirit  which,  when  it  shall  generally 
fill  the  heart,  and  waken  the  zeal  of  the  renewed  on  earth, 
will  level  alike  the  throne  of  the  despot,  and  the  time- 
cemented  superstitions  to  which  they  cKng  ;  before  which  the 
Crescent  will  wane  into  darkness,  the  funeral  pile,  and  bloody 
idols  of  the  Hindoo,  flee  away  ;  the  intolerance,  the  coiTup- 
tions,  the  fierce  contentions  of  nominal  Christendom  vanish, 
while  the  song  of  redemption,  which  it  first  breathed  forth  on 
the  plains  of  Bethlehem,  will  swell  up,  in  grand  chorus,  from 
every  altar  and  temple,  every  cottage  and  palace,  and  every 
hill  and  vale.  The  voices  of  ten  thousand  new-born  sons  of 
Zion  fall  ujion  my  ear  from  the  isles  of  the  Pacific  and  the 
shores  of  India,  Hail  them  as  the  prelude  of  that  universal 
anthem  which  will  enwrap  the  world  when  the  gospel  shall 
illumine  every  dwelling,  and  kindle  the  fire  of  a  pure  religion 
on  every  altar,  and  in  every  heart  beneath  the  whole  heaven. 


YIII. 

NATURAL  SCIENCE  IN  ITS  RELATIONS  TO  ART  AND 
THEOLOGY.* 

In  analyzing  the  spirit  of  any  age  or  country,  we  shall 
find  that  it  is  the  result  of  various  causes,  of  elements  diverse 
in  character  and  in  degree  of  power,  which  combine  to  pro- 
duce the  manifestations  of  national  life.  It  is  the  predom- 
inance of  a  few  of  these  at  any  one  time  which  gives  to  that 
period  their  name  and  form.  It  was  in  the  early  part  of  the 
sixteenth  century  that  the  inductive  philosophy  received  its 
gTand  development — a  philosophy,  indeed,  which  had  always 
prevailed  more  or  less,  and  regulated  in  a  great  degree  human 
life,  but  which,  as  then  it  was  taken  above  the  common 
affairs  of  men,  wrought  into  system  and  made  to  give  law  to 
the  generalization  of  all  science,  has,  by  consent  of  mankind, 
stamped  that  age  with  its  own  impress.  It  was  in  the  com- 
mencement of  the  eighteenth  century  that  mathematical  sci- 
ence in  its  purest  forms  attained  a  sudden  and  prodigious 
expansion  ;  it  was  when  Newton  and  Leibnitz  sat  on  rival 
thrones,  and  from  year  to  year  dazzled  the  world  with  their 
discoveries  and  those  of  their  followers,  that  the  pure  mathe- 
matics made  the  most  surprising  advance.  Yet  this  was  the 
age  of  Addison,  ushering  in  the  Augustan  age  of  British  lit- 
erature, when  poets  and  elegant  writers  swarmed  throughout 
England,  and  our  language  received  that  finish  of  style  which 
has  ever  since  characterized  it.  And  just  as  men  look  at  this 
age  from  one  or  the  other  of  these  positions,  they  will  call  it 
the  epoch  either  of  mathematical  science  or  elegant  literature. 

*  An  address  delivered  before  the  Miami  Union  Literary  Society  of  Miami 
University,  June  25,  1851. 


NATUEAL     SCIENCE    IN     ITS     RELATIONS,     ETC   239 

Tiie  period  in  which  we  live  may  be  styled  the  age  of  liberty, 
or  of  commercial  enterprise,  or  of  popular  instruction,  or 
of  wide-spread  organizations  for  the  diffusion  of  the  gospel 
through  the  world.  In  addition  to  these  and  other  charac- 
teristics, however,  there  is  one  which  seems  to  me  to  enter 
vitally  into  the  spirit  of  the  times,  which,  as  a  mighty  force, 
is  bearing  society  itself  onward,  which  is  intimately  associ- 
ated with  all  our  commercial  enterprises,  and  has  relations  of 
amity  and  support  to  both  liberty  and  religion.  I  do  not 
refer  to  the  press  alone,  but  to  that  which  created  the  press  ; 
I  do  not  allude  to  steam  and  its  triumphs,  but  to  that  of 
which  this  is  but  one  of  a  rapidly  increasing  progeny.  I  do 
not  speak  of  schools,  academies,  and  colleges,  but  of  that 
which  is  supplying  in  a  great  part  the  elements  of  their  in- 
struction, and  dictating  to  them  a  new  world  of  knowledge. 
It  is  to  physical  science  that  I  here  refer,  to  that  attention  to 
material  things,  that  enthusiastic  study  of  the  natural  world 
in  all  its  heights  and  depths,  in  all  its  forms  of  beauty  and 
grandeur,  in  all  its  secret  processes  and  operations,  which  is 
enlisting  to  so  great  an  extent  much  of  the  talent  and  giving 
character  to  much  of  the  learning  of  this  age. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  natural  science — and  I  use  the 
term  in  its  broadest  signification — it  is  not  to  be  denied  that 
this  science  has  within  the  last  half  century  advanced  with  a 
rapidity  unjmralleled  in  the  history  of  the  world.  It  has  come 
forth  from  the  smoky  laboratory  of  the  alchemist  and  the 
dusty  study  of  the  astrologer,  and  refusing  longer  to  be  held 
in  bondage  by  the  categories  of  logic  or  the  formula^  of  em- 
pirics, it  has  risen  to  the  dignity  of  true  science,  and  vindi- 
cated its  claim  to  a  high  position  among  ennobling  pursuits. 
Allying  itself  on  the  one  hand  to  the  arts  which  are  more  di- 
rectly concerned  in  the  abridging  of  human  labor,  the  provis- 
ion of  luxury  and  comfort  gathered  from  all  the  world,  and 
on  the  other  with  the  more  purely  intellectual  pursuits  of  the 
educated,  it  has  forced  itself  into  a  position  of  authority  and 
power  from  which  it  is  utterly  impossible  it  should  ever  be 
cast  down.     It  is  no  longer  a  search  for  the  secret  of  trans- 


240  LITEEARY     ADDRESSES, 

muting  a  base  metal  into  gold  ;  it  is  rather  the  demonstra- 
tion of  the  thousand  uses  to  which  that  base  metal  may  be  so 
applied  as  not  only  to  relieve  it  from  all  its  baseness,  but  im- 
part to  it  a  virtue  of  genuine  excellence  and  true  nobility 
which  the  silver  and  gold  never  knew.  It  is  no  longer  the 
casting  of  nativities  and  horoscopes,  the  busy  idleness  of  a 
puerile,  vaunting  astrology  :  but  it  is  the  vision  that,  with 
more  than  eagle  penetration,  looks  into  space  and  tlirougJi  the 
crowds  of  worlds  that  roll  in  mazy  pathways  around  us,  and 
it  is  the  powerful  understanding  that  watches  their  motions 
and  determines  their  positions,  and  so  begins  an  approxi- 
mation to  the  final  solution  of  that  magnificent  problem,  the 
actual  construction  and  ultimate  law  of  motion  of  this  bound- 
less universe.  It  is  no  longer  the  trickery  of  an  amusing 
magic,  nor  the  elaborately  constructed  and  brilliant  hypoth- 
esis of  a  theorist  who,  in  his  study  and  by  the  force  of  thought 
abstracted  from  all  observation,  pretends  to  interjDret  nature; 
it  is  rather  the  actual  unfolding  of  the  amazing  powers  of  that 
nature,  the  patient  hearing  of  her  voice,  the  gathering  up  of 
her  utterance,  and  their  harmonious  combination,  so  as  to  pre- 
sent the  book  to  our  eyes  as  God  wrote  it,  with  glory  stream- 
ing from  every  page  and  every  line.  That  nature  is  thus 
questioned  on  every  hand,  that  it  constitutes  a  fact  too  broad 
and  influential  to  be  overlooked  in  an  attempt  to  compass  the 
spirit  of  this  age,  is  too  obvious  to  demand  proof  in  the  pres- 
ence of  such  an  audience.  Its  quickening  power  is  seen  and 
felt  all  around  us.  It  has  entered  ancient  universities,  where 
Aristotle  ruled  for  centuries,  and  rudely  pushed  him  from  his 
stool.  It  has  sent  Plato,  with  his  To  KaXov  and  his  To  eidoXov^ 
his  forms  without  substance,  and  his  genera  without  species, 
to  learn  practical  wisdom  from  the  natural  and  living  things 
that  fill  God's  vast  creation,  and  manifest  forth  his  mighty 
Godhead.  Even  the  proud  realms  of  classic  lore,  and  the 
fields  where  of  yore  the  men  of  dialectics  and  syllogisms  trod 
so  grandly,  have  been  rudely  invaded  by  this  modern  adven- 
turer ;  and  although  we  have  not  fully  realized  the  large  sys- 
tem of  university  education  which  Bacon,  disgusted  with  the 


NATURAL     SCIENCE     IN     ITS     RELATIONS,     ETC.    241 

everlasting  study  of  precedents,  untested  tlieorles,  and  the 
total  suppression  of  the  free  spirit  of  inquiry  into  the  world 
of  nature,  propounded  long  years  ago,  yet  we  are  daily  ap- 
proximating to  its  full  realization.  Compare  the  list  of  joro- 
fessorships  in  any  of  the  older  universities  of  this  continent 
or  Europe  at  the  present  with  one  forty  or  fifty  years  ago, 
and  read  the  progress  of  physical  science,  and  the  command- 
ing position  to  which  it  has  reached.  To  say  nothing  of  as- 
tronomy and  other  branches  of  the  mixed  mathematics,  where 
and  what  were  chemistry  and  geology  and  minei'alogy  and 
natural  philosophy  and  anatomy  and  physiology  and  the 
associated  branches  of  natural  science  ?  Not  only  is  it  es- 
sential to  a  fully  manned  university  now,  that  it  should  have 
its  chairs  of  natural  philosophy  and  chemistry  and  geology, 
but  also  those  of  agricultural  and  vegetable  chemistiy,  and 
the  application  of  natural  science  to  the  arts  :  while  scarcely 
a  school  of  any  reputation  is  deemed  complete  without  a 
laboratory  and  an  apparatus  for  the  illustration  of  the  more 
common  branches  of  natural  philosophy  and  the  system  of 
astronomy.  Within  the  last  week  I  have  seen  an  original 
plan  for  a  university  in  the  capital  of  an  eastern  State  that 
embraces  nominally  three  faculties  of  law,  medicine,  and 
natural  science,  but  which  in  effect  is  a  more  perfect  realiza- 
tion of  the  great  philosopher's  idea  of  a  University  than  any 
thing  we  now  have  in  this  country ;  its  chief  peculiarity 
being  the  prominence  given  to  the  experimental  sciences,  the 
free  scope  allowed  for  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  works 
of  God.  It  is,  indeed,  difficult  to  realize  either  the  progress 
or  the  results  of  the  study  of  natural  science  by  a  comparison 
of  brief  periods.  We  must  go  back  a  few  centuries  into  the 
heart  of  one  of  the  most  civilized  countries  of  the  world,  and 
witness  the  grandest  pageant  of  the  day — the  pageant  that 
most  fully  revealed  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  declared  the 
bent  and  taste  of  the  minds  that  give  law  to  nations.  In  the 
environs  of  a  city  now  the  largest  in  the  world,  and  the  me- 
tropolis of  the  grandest  empire  on  which  the  sun  looks  down, 
there  were  gathered  a  few  centuries  ago  the  brave,  the  beau- 


242  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

tiful,  the  noble,  and  the  mighty  of  a  nation's  people.  Kings 
and  queens  were  there,  and  earls  and  barons,  the  makers  of 
kings,  stood  proudly  by  their  side  ;  for  it  was  a  day  when 
royalty  came  forth  from  its  seclusion,  and  the  satellites  of  a 
court  and  the  grandees  of  a  nation  had  met  to  behold  how 
men  sheathed  in  iron,  with  their  brains  in  their  stout  arms 
and  fists,  could  ride  the  hardest  and  dash  the  lance  most 
powerfully  against  each  other's  brazen  shields,  and  hack  most 
lustily  their  steel-clad  skulls.  And  through  that  vast  array 
there  was  the  most  intense  enthusiasm,  and  grave  and  gay 
chose  their  champions,  and  never  a  knight  went  forth  to  bat- 
tle in  the  tournament  that  carried  not  with  him  the  sympa- 
thies and  prayers  of  many  for  his  success,  while  the  victor 
gathered  the  applause  of  thousands,  and  from  the  hands  of  the 
fairest  and  noblest  there  received  the  crown  of  glory.  Nor 
was  the  influence  of  such  a  scene  confined  to  those  who  wit- 
nessed it.  The  fame  of  it  spread  in  slow  but  ever  enlarging 
circles  through  palaces  and  cottages,  through  courts  and  peas- 
ant gatherings,  while  from  side  to  side  Europe  talked  of  the 
splendor  and  the  bravery  of  the  actors,  and  the  flower  of  a 
nation's  chivalry  assembled,  and  the  beauty  of  the  fair  dames 
who  graced  the  stin-ing  scene  with  their  presence.  Such  were 
the  spectacles  that  then  moved  the  hearts  of  refined  and  civ- 
ilized nations,  and  to  such  pursuits  were  the  strength  of  a  na- 
tion's manhood  directed,  and  by  such  actors  were  the  grandest 
jirizes  of  earthly  renown  borne  off".  Let  us  pass  at  a  single 
stride  from  the  past  to  the  present.  Let  us  visit  the  same 
spot,  around  which  now  the  population  of  that  same,  city  in 
its  vast  expansion  has  reared  miles  of  dwellings  and  gathered 
up  the  wealth  of  half  the  globe.  The  knight  and  mail-clad 
warrior  have  disappeared.  The  huge  battlc-ax  and  lance  are 
seen  no  more.  Where  esquires  and  nobles  fought,  has  risen 
in  a  night,  at  the  creative  will  of  science,  a  palace  vast  in  its 
dimensions,  beautiful  in  its  proportions,  and  grand  in  its  im- 
pression. No  huge  buttresses  and  deep  moat  and  lofty  wall 
and  tuiTct  and  keep  and  draw-bridge  are  there,  for  it  is  the 
temple  of  peace  and  unity,  within  which  representative  na- 


NATURAL    SCIENCE    IN    ITS    RELATIOXS,KTC.      243 

lions  gather,  and  against  which  no  hostile  foot  advances. 
Royalty  is  there,  with  earls  and  lords,  and  all  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  richest  courts,  but  they  assemble  to  do  honor  to 
another  scene,  and  grace  the  triumphs  of  another  style  of 
manhood.  The  real  heroes  of  this  modern  tournament,  the 
men  whose  names  grow  familiar  as  household  words  to  wliole 
continents,  are  they  whose  genius  has  re<ared  such  a  temple 
and  filled  it  with  the  handicraft  of  the  world,  and  gathered 
there  the  flower  and  fruit  of  science  long;  toilino;  in  solitude 
and  depression  for  the  advancement  of  the  outward  state  of 
man  and  the  elevation  of  society.  That  wondrous  exhibition 
on  which  the  eyes  of  nations  are  turned,  beside  which  the 
splendors  of  royalty  grow  dim,  and  the  brute  force  and  war- 
like magnificence  of  the  age  of  chivalry  retire  into  contempti- 
ble obscurity,  is  a  type  of  the  age,  a  mirror  of  its  spirit,  a 
striking  indication  of  the  hold  which  all  these  pursuits  which 
have  the  elevation  and  comfort  and  improvement  of  society 
as  their  chief  end,  are  taking  upon  the  hearts  of  men. 

But  it  is  time  for  us  to  leave  this  general  surview  and  de- 
scend to  a  more  particular  inquiry  into  the  connection  of  this 
increased  study  of  natural  science  with  those  practical  pursuits 
which  are  essential  to  the  progress  of  society,  with  those  arts 
which  adorn  and  that  religion  which  saves  the  world. 

That  this  devotion  to  physical  science  has  a  connection 
most  intimate  and  vital  with  those  pursuits  most  directly  as- 
sociated with  our  physical  comfort,  is  obvious  to  an  attentive 
observer.  It  is  a  fact  well  worth  being  treasured  up  and  re- 
flected upon,  that  the  world  is  so  bound  together  in  all  its 
parts,  and  even  the  universe  around  is  so  allied  to  us,  that  a 
discovery  in  any  part  of  it  of  some  new  phenomenon,  or  the 
original  combination  of  some  of  its  elements  in  the  form  of 
an  invention,  is  in  some  way  made  to  affect  happily  the  whole. 
It  is  not  now  as  once  it  was,  when  men  studied  not  to  flnd 
out  the  powers  and  attributes  of  the  world,  but  in  defiance 
of  nature  sought  the  demonstration  of  some  ingenious  theory, 
baseless  as  the  fabric  which  the  imagination  of  youth  roars  in 
the  distant  future.    It  is  now  the  aim  of  the  student  of  natural 


244  LITERARY      ADDRESSES. 

science  to  observe  the  facts  just  as  they  present  themselves 
to  the  cautious  mind,  and  on  these  as  a  basis  immovable  as  the 
foundations  of  the  globe  itself,  establish  those  broad  generaliz- 
ations which  give  to  each  department  of  study  the  character 
of  true  science.  And  no  matter  where  or  in  what  department 
he  may  push  forward  his  investigations,  yet  it  will  be  strange 
indeed  if  he  make  not  some  discoveries  which  will  contribute 
something  to  that  practical  knowledge  by  which  labor  is  re- 
warded, the  sphere  of  mind  enlarged,  and  human  comfort 
promoted.  The  investigations  of  an  obscure  chemist  in  an- 
other part  of  the  globe  are  enhancing  prospectively  eveiy  acre 
of  arable  land  on  the  earth's  surface.  And  thus  the  chemist 
and  the  farmer — the  geologist  and  the  smith — the  inventor 
and  the  operator — the  astronomer,  the  merchant  and  sailor, 
are  each  connected  together  by  invisible  but  real  circles  of  in- 
fluence. Nay,  often  the  most  barren  fields  of  nature,  into 
which  only  an  enthusiastic  devotion  ^vill  carry  the  explorer, 
furnish  the  richest  blessing  to  the  world.  The  man  who, 
amidst  the  ridicule  and  contempt  of  courts  and  nations,  went 
forth  upon  the  ocean  to  discover  not  a  new  world,  but  a  new 
passage  to  an  old  world,  sowed  his  seed  upon  seemingly  the 
baiTenest  rock,  and  reaped  the  richest  harvest  for  mankind. 
The  observation  of  each  star  that  twinkles,  the  determination 
of  its  position  and  times,  is  linked  on  to  the  perfection  of  the 
whole  system  of  navigation  and  geographical  discovery  through- 
out the  world,  and  is  aiding  forward  that  stupendous  commerce 
which  even  now  is  net-working  the  globe.  The  discovery  of 
Daguerre  has  furnished  employment  for  scores  of  thousands, 
and  comfort  and  luxury  to  millions.  The  original  explorer  is 
constantly  accumulating  materials  which  the  genius  of  the  in- 
ventor and  the  skill  of  the  craftsman  will  fasliion  into  new 
powers  of  labor  and  new  sources  of  wealth.  Meanwhile  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  student  and  the  exjjerimenter  descends  to 
the  multitude  ;  and  the  prospect  of  new  avenues  for  advance- 
ment or  the  just  fame  of  a  national  benefactor  rouses  many 
minds  and  quickens  genius  itself  in  the  race  of  improvement. 
As  each  new  discovei-v  is  announced,  there  are  intellects  on 


NATURAL    SCIENCE    IN     ITS    RELATIONS,    ETC.     245 

the  alert  not  only  to  introduce  it  into  the  general  systems  of  sci- 
ence, but  to  criticise  it  with  a  practical  eye,  to  seize  hold  of 
it  as  an  available  force  for  the  promotion  of  the  interests  of 
mankind.  It  was  the  student  and  the  experimenter  who  dis- 
covered the  capacity  of  soft  iron  instantly  to  become  or  cease 
to  be  a  magnet ;  but  no  sooner  is  the  discovery  announced, 
than  the  practical  genius  of  the  inventor  seizes  hold  of  it  as  a 
means  for  talking  round  the  globe.  And  thus  the  student 
clears  the  pathway  for  the  inventor,  and  the  inventor  pro- 
vides the  models  for  the  skillful  operator,  and  the  operator 
brings  forth  his  improvements  and  rouses  the  public  mind  to 
grasp  a  new  idea  and  ascend  another  step  in  physical  progress. 
The  action  and  reaction  between  these  different  classes  of 
thinkers  and  workers  not  only  affects  themselves  personally  ; 
it  spreads  through  society  an  influence  favorable  to  enterprise 
and  advancement ;  it  stimulates  labor,  breaks  up  the  barriers 
which  divide  men  into  classes  and  retard  their  progress.  What- 
ever affects  directly  the  physical  improvement  of  society,  what- 
ever is  adapted  to  mitigate  the  original  curse  pronounced 
upon  the  earth,  and  while  it  abridges  toil,  brings  to  it  larger 
means  of  bettering  its  condition,  touches  some  of  the  most 
common  springs  of  human  action,  and  creates  in  turn  a 
healthful  mental  excitement.  'The  student  of  natural  science 
thus  stands  at  the  source  of  influences  that  affect  all  the  ele- 
ments of  society  ;  that  in  time  steal  into  the  heart  of  nations 
and  modify  the  condition  of  empires.  Call  him  idler,  enthu- 
siast, fool,  if  you  will ;  ridicule  and  starve  him  as  a  fit  reward 
for  studies  so  meaningless  to  the  dull  eye  of  ignorance.  Yet 
wait  awhile,  and  lo  !  he  has  struck  the  rock,  and  the  water 
gushes  forth  and  flows  on  for  ever  to  quench  the  thirst  of  mil- 
lions, and  bear  its  benison  to  a  wide  and  ever-enlarging  cu-cle 
of  mortals. 

Passing  from  this  acknowledged  tendency  of  natural  sci- 
ence, we  come  at  once  upon  a  more  doubtful  territory.  The 
question  comes  home  to  us,  whether  this  wide-spread  devo- 
tion to  the  visible  and  the  physical,  is  not  destroying  a  just 
devotion    to    the  more    purely   intellectual    and    spiritual. 


246  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

whether  the  analysis  of  soils  tends  not  to  withdraw  our  stu- 
dents from  the  analysis  of  language,  and  the  anatomizing  of 
bodies  from  the  anatomizing  of  minds,  and  the  observation  of 
visible  things  from  the  high  pursuit  of  purely  intellectual 
forms  and  processes,  and  the  laws  of  matter  from  the  laws  of 
nations  ?  Now  it  is  certain  that  it  is  not  for  the  highest  in- 
terest of  society  that  the  educated  mind  thereof  should  be 
chiefly  bent  upon  these  physical  attainments.  For  we  must 
have  men  with  intellects  disciplined  to  sound  the  depths  of 
law,  and  unfold  the  principles  of  civil  and  political  organiza- 
tion ;  men  who  have  studied  the  pathology  of  the  human 
system,  and  grasped  the  laws  which  control  his  physical  and 
mental  powers  ;  we  must  have  men  who  can  compass  the 
laws  of  trade  and  trace  out  their  obscure  economy ;  men  who 
will  rise  to  the  far-sighted  vision  of  statesmen,  and  from  the 
confused  experiences  of  the  past  and  the  present  evolve  that 
style  of  national  government  which  is  in  harmony  with  the 
largest  welfare  of  nations.  We  must  have  men  who  shall 
cultivate  the  field  of  general  literature — poets,  historians, 
essayists  ;  men  who  shall  compass  the  force  of  languages,  and 
gather  into  one  tongue  the  cream  of  the  world's  science ;  who 
shall  study  God's  revelation  in  its  holy  original,  and  ascend- 
ing above  the  metaphysics  of  individual  sciences,  master  that 
higher  system  in  which  they  all  unite.  And  it  is  a  question 
for  us  to  examine  whether  the  })liysical  spirit  of  the  age  does 
not  tend  to  impair  that  higher  culture,  that  thorough  analysis 
of  mind,  that  study  of  language,  that  attention  to  the  purer 
mathematics,  that  compassing  the  lessons  of  history,  that 
observation  of  man  as  he  has  lived  and  developed  himself  in 
his  nobler  works  in  all  ages,  and  that  calm,  rigid,  patient 
spirit  of  generalization  and  acute  reasoning,  and  that  noble 
style  of  expression,  which  are  more  or  less  essential  to  the 
formation  of  those  who  are  to  mold  and  bless  the  world.  Is 
it  not  true  that  there  may  be  a  tendency  in  this  spirit  of  the 
age  to  monopolize  all  the  merit  and  all  the  benefit  and  all  the 
mind  ;  to  dictate  the  course  of  education  and  the  style  of 
training  not  only  for  some,  but  for  the  multitude  of  those 


NATURAL    SCIENCE    IN    ITS    RELATIONS,    ETC.     247 

who  are  to  be  preeminently  the  thinkers  of  the  world  ;  to 
denounce  as  antiquated  all  that  bears  not  the  stamp  of  its 
own  image,  and  test  the  value  of  all  education  and  all  pur- 
suits by  a  visible,  immediate  and  vulgar  utilitarianism  ?  It 
is  undoubtedly  the  fact  that  in  one  respect  this  attention  to 
the  facts  of  a  visible  science  may  exert,  and  has  exerted,  a 
most  happy  influence  upon  our  universities  and  regular 
schools  of  education.  It  has  in  part  made  obsolete  the 
unending  logomachies  and  disputations  on  subjects  in  them- 
selves most  trivial,  or  beyond  the  range  of  the  human  facul- 
ties ;  it  has  assisted  in  dispersing  theories  which  had  no  just 
foundation,  and  restrained  the  overflow  of  mind  in  the  direc- 
tion of  investigations  that  have  no  higher  end  than  to  demon- 
strate the  skillfulness  with  which  the  air  may  be  beaten,  and 
to  display  the  gi'ound  and  lofty  tumblings  of  intellectual 
mountebanks.  But  may  it  not  be,  that  in  the  sweej)  of  this 
overflowing  stream,  there  is  a  tendency  not  only  to  bear  away 
the  useless  and  the  fantastic  and  the  efiete,  but  also  to  under- 
mine palace  and  temple,  and  state  house  and  cottage  ;  that 
the  physical  may  seek  to  give  law  to  the  spiritual,  matter 
control  mind,  and  so  the  order  of  God  be  inverted,  and  that 
which  should  be  the  subject  at  length  rises  to  be  the  lord. 
The  ultimate  result  of  such  an  uncounteracted  influence 
would  be  of  all  things  most  disastrous  to  natural  science 
itself  For  science  is  not  merely  a  collection  of  facts,  a  series 
of  experiments.  When  the  facts  are  gather'  d  and  the  experi- 
ments are  made,  there  is  then  a  higher  process  of  mind  to  be 
undertaken,  the  process  of  drawing  out  the  metaphysics  of 
which  the  facts  known  serve  but  as  a  basis.  The  house  has 
yet  to  be  built,  and  it  demands,  to  erect  a  noble  structure,  a 
truly  noble  and  generous  discipline  of  the  intellect,  and  the 
compassing  of  many  elements  of  thought,  and  the  grasp  of  a 
mind  trained  by  other  means  to  combine  and  analyze,  to  re- 
ject the  false  and  hold  on  to  the  true,  and  wait  and  think, 
and  think  and  wait,  until  the  knowledge  shapes  itself  into  a 
full-grown  theory,  and  gains  at  length  the  just  proportions 
and  stability  and  relations  of  science.     Nay,  more,  there  is 


248  LITEKARY     ADDRESSES. 

sometimes  contained  in  the  higher  discipline  of  the  Univer- 
sity and  of  abstract  science  the  only  knowledge  of  the  instru- 
ment Ly  which  natural  science  can  effect  its  ends.  The 
invention  of  logarithms  is  an  essential  element  of  the  great 
progress  of  astronomy,  and  the  higher  mathematics  are  the 
very  gateway  into  this  majestic  universe  that  sparkles  about 
us.  To  suifer  the  spirit  of  a  merely  physical  and  immediate 
utility  to  govern  our  modes  of  education,  is  just  to  sacrifice 
on  the  altar  of  sense  the  highest  of  all  utility,  and  at  length 
so  emasculate  the  intellect  as  to  weaken  its  power  of  general- 
ization, and  turn  the  student  world  into  a  crowd  of  busy 
empirics.  Let  us,  then,  while  on  the  one  hand  we  appreciate 
the  excellence  of  this  devotion  to  physics,  guard  against  the 
influence  which  would  test  all  that  is  most  noble  by  an  out- 
ward rule  ;  that  would  measure  mind  by  a  material  standard, 
and  education  by  the  knowledge  it  gives  of  the  forms  of 
things,  and  the  power  it  imparts  to  acquire  a  purely  physical 
wealth. 

I  pass  to  a  few  remarks  resjiecting  the  influence  of  this 
spirit  of  the  age  upon  the  fine  arts.  It  is  a  common  com- 
plaint that  this  intense  devotion  to  the  physical  and  practical 
has  exerted,  and  is  destined  still  further  to  exert,  an  unhappy 
influence  upon  those  arts  which  express  the  ideal  and  seek  to 
represent  forms  and  sounds  and  scenery  of  imaginative  beauty 
and  thrilling  power.  It  may  be  true,  indeed,  that  the  over- 
growth of  this  physical  spirit  is  hostile  to  the  arts  which  deal 
so  largely  in  ideal  perfection.  But  this  can  be  true  only  of  its 
excess.  For  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  j)ractical  and 
the  ideal — the  physical  and  the  spiritual — the  substance  and 
the  form — the  excellence  and  the  glory,  may  not  co-exist  in 
their  highest  perfection.  They  are  ever  so  united  in  the  cre- 
ation of  God,  and  they  may  be  in  the  works  of  man.  The 
fountain  that  quenches  thirst  and  fertilizes  the  earth,  also 
flashes  beautifully  in  the  sunlight  and  muiTQurs  sweetly  in 
the  stillness  of  evening.  The  tree  that  furnishes  fruit  and 
shade  and  fuel,  hath  often  a  loveliness  and  a  grandeur  of  color 
aud  form  that  raise  the  most  vivid  emotions  of  pleasure  in  a 


NATURAL     SCIENCE     IN     ITS     RELATIONS,     ETC.    249 

soul  sensitive  to  ideal  excellence.  The  sunlight  that  warms 
and  cheers  us,  the  most  practical  of  all  Grod's  creatures,  and 
the  mightiest  generator  of  the  useful  in  the  world,  how  doth 
he  ]iaint  the  flowers  of  every  hue  and  dress  the  trees  in  ever- 
varying  foliage,  and  wrap  round  the  earth  a  robe  like  which 
none  so  fills  the  ideal  of  beauty  which  the  human  mind  can 
form.  And  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  as  the  mind  of  man 
shall  more  and  more  come  to  understand  those  works  of  the 
infinite  Creator  he  will  fail  to  appreciate  the  noble  and  grand 
and  lovely,  or  from  his  study  of  the  practical,  lose  all  power 
to  express  ideal  perfection  and  combine  into  one  the  images 
and  sounds  that  most  aftect  and  ravish  the  soul  awake  to  all 
that  is  perfect  ?  We  are  not  of  Plato,  nor  of  Aristotle,  in 
this  matter.  Grod  hath  in  his  intellect  the  patterns  of  all  ex- 
cellent things  ;  and  man,  the  image  of  Grod,  hath  not  of  him- 
self, but  in  virtue  of  his  sonship,  the  capacity  to  appreciate, 
and  from  that  which  God  created  to  combine  and  so  express 
such  excellence  in  sensible  forms  or  human  language.  This  is 
the  basis  of  all  noble  art  and  of  all  genuine  poetry.  And  while 
it  may  be  that  in  the  first  stages  of  a  too  exclusive  attention 
to  that  which  seems  to  be  practical  and  most  immediately 
useful,  the  mental  and  the  remotely  useful  may  be  somewhat 
neglected,  yet  at  length  the  continuous  pursuit  of  these  sci- 
ences and  study  of  these  works  of  God  must  bring  round  a 
new,  more  vigorous  and  more  correct  appreciation  of  works  of 
art.  Indeed,  already  much  has  been  done  to  correct  the  mis- 
judgment  of  artists  and  spread  abroad  a  taste  for  their  works. 
The  progress  of  science  and  the  practical  arts  has  sent  genius 
to  work  in  a  broader  field.  It  has  diff'used  and  is  diffusing  the 
productions  of  genius  in  all  mechanical  skillfulness  through 
the  entire  community.  If  in  architecture  we  rear  no  grand 
cathedrals  and  hang  no  domes  sublime  in  air,  yet  is  there 
growing  a  spirit  which  seeks  to  rear  our  dwellings  and  lay  out 
our  grounds  in  ideal  perfectness.  If  we  paint  no  exquisite 
transfigurations  and  chisel  no  Phidian  Jupiters,  yet  is  there 
growing  the  desire  to  adorn  our  dwellings  with  the  expression 
of  natural  scenery  and  fashion  our  furniture  in  foi-ms  of  beauty. 


250  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

The  hand  of  taste  and  art  is  making  itself  visible  in  the  con- 
struction of  even  those  monster  powers  by  which  huge  steam- 
ers are  sent  forth  from  continent  to  continent  ;  and  I  doubt 
not  there  is  often  manifested  in  the  form  and  finish  of  manv 
of  our  most  efficient  instruments  as  exquisite  a  beauty  of  its 
kind,  as  just  an  appreciation  of  symmetry  and  ideal  perfection 
as  that  which  shines  forth  with  such  condensed  brilliancy  from 
the  works  of  the  anci(3nt  masters.  There  is  in  the  mint  at 
Philadeli^hia  an  engine  used  for  coining  gold  and  silver,  so  ex- 
quisitely formed  and  so  astonishingly  accurate  in  its  running, 
that  if  you  fix  your  eye  only  upon  the  outer  face  of  the  regu- 
lator, it  is  almost  impossible  to  detect,  from  either  sight  or 
sound,  that  it  is  in  motion.  If  you  will  visit  some  of  the 
larger  cabinet  warerooms  in  our  city,  you  will  see  ideal  beauty, 
in  both  form  and  finish,  as  lavishly  displayed  as  in  a  gallery 
of  pure  art.  It  is  thus  the  spirit  of  art  is  molding  not  sim- 
ply here  and  there  a  "  Grreek  Slave"  or  a  "  Landing  of  the 
Pilgrims,"  but  the  every-day  forms  amid  which  men  move, 
giving  a  finer  appearance  to  the  common,  exalting  the  mean, 
refining  the  rude,  and  marrying  substance  and  form,  matter 
and  mind,  the  practical  and  the  beautiful,  as  doth  our  great 
Creator  in  his  glorious  works. 

In  another  manner  also  is  physical  science  cultivating  and 
gratifying  a  taste  for  art.  The  invention  of  engraving  multi- 
plies copies  of  the  finest  paintings,  and  scatters  their  spirit  and 
fragrance  over  the  world.  The  instrument  more  recently  in- 
vented for  copying  statuary  is  preparing  the  way  for  the  bring- 
ing home  to  the  mass  of  us  who  can  not  travel  abroad  to  see 
them  the  enjoyment  of  all  their  excellence.  Sun-painting,  too, 
itself  the  triumph  of  genius,  how  it  multiplies  forms  and  fea- 
tures we  love  to  gaze  upon  ;  how  it  rescues  from  an  oblivion, 
we  would  in  vain  seek  to  penetrate,  the  countenances  of  those 
passed  into  the  skies  !  With  all  its  imperfections,  how  im- 
mensely superior  as  a  work  of  art  to  the  ill-drawn  and  worse- 
painted  caricatures  called  portraits  that  hang  in  many  a  draw- 
ing-room, and  stand  as  the  misrepresentations  of  the  loved  and 
the  lost !     Nor  have  we  reached  the  summit  of  perfection  in 


I 


NATURAL     SCIENCE    IN     ITS     RELATIONS,    ETC.     251 

this  direction.  Genius  will  achieve  nobler  triumphs  in  this 
field  ;  and  yon  orb  of  light  will  yet  at  its  invocation  paint  for 
us  on  the  metal,  as  he  does  in  the  mirror  and  the  water  and  all 
over  nature,forms  that  will  surpass,  in  soft  and  delicate  finish, 
in  admirable  drawing,  in  exquisite  coloring  and  light  and  shade, 
and  in  naturalness  of  expression,  the  brightest  imaginings  of 
a  Reynolds  or  a  Raphael.  It  is  not  the  costliness  of  a  thing 
that  gives  it  value.  In  our  oiferings  to  God,  this  may  be 
true  as  an  expression  of  our  appreciation  of  his  excellence  ; 
and  then  the  alabaster  box  is  fit  and  full  of  meaning.  But 
beauty  and  excellence  God  himself  hath  created  in  wonderful 
profusion.  To  me  it  is  a  matter  of  joy,  when,  from  the  works 
of  man,  new  sources  of  pleasure  in  the  contemplation  of  actual 
or  ideal  excellence  are  opened  up,  not  merely  to  the  few  who 
have  wealth  to  lavish,  but  to  the  multitude  who  toil  with 
mind  or  body  for  their  daily  bread.  And  I  doubt  not  that 
the  time  is  coming  when  in  the  advance  of  physical  science  a 
point  will  be  reached  where  science  and  art  will  join  their 
forces,  and  united  give  to  the  world — not  to  kings  and  princes 
— not  to  palaces  and  wealth — but  to  the  world,  to  the  peas- 
ant and  the  cottage — to  the  farmer  returning  from  his  plow 
and  the  artisan  from  his  toil,  as  beauteous  forms  of  ideal  ex- 
cellence as  the  world  has  ever  seen,  purified  from  the  grossness 
which  has  too  often  disgraced  the  works  of  genius  and  made 
them  a  synonym  for  corruption  of  manners  and  the  fall  of  States. 
We  trust  the  time  is  coming  when  we  shall  have  original  arch- 
itects ;  when  men  shall  not  imagine  architecture  too  perfect 
to  be  improved,  and  invention  shall  not  stand  at  the  present 
limit,  afraid  to  cross  it,  and  genius  can  do  nothing  but  copy 
the  "  stones  of  Venice,"  and  remodel  the  crumbling  Parthenon. 
There  is  a  field  for  an  original  genius,  for  the  Wrens  and  An- 
gelos  of  the  future,  yet  unoccupied.  Egypt  can  build  us  gloomy 
jails  and  penitentiaries — Greece  can  fashion  banks  and  ex- 
changes— Arabia  light  and  graceful  summer  palaces — Ger- 
many tuiTcted  state  houses  and  somber  mass  houses.  But 
where  is  that  Christian  architecture,  which,  in  all  its  aiTange- 
ments,  befits  the  proclamations  of  the  gospel  and  the  simple 


252  LITERAKY      ADDRESSES. 

worship  of  a  primitive  Christianity  ?  a  style  of  architecture 
in  which  within,  columns  to  obstruct  the  sight  and  intricate 
arches  to  scatter  sound,  are  absent ;  while  without,  there  shall 
be  an  expression  all  in  harmony  with  our  simple  yet  sublime 
faith,  and  a  fit  temple  to  be  associated  with  the  solemn  and 
joyous  worship  of  Jehovah  ?  We  doubt  not  such  architects 
will  yet  rise,  whose  works  will  differ  as  much  from  those  old 
forms  of  building  as  they  differ  from  each  other  ;  who  will 
give  us  a  truly  Protestant  architecture  ;  who  will  symbolize 
our  faith  in  a  style  at  once  grand,  simjjle,  beautiful,  adapted 
to  our  worship  and  destined  to  endure  and  act  as  an  educating 
influence  for  multitudes  unborn. 

There  is  one  subject  in  respect  to  which  the  connection  of 
natural  science  is  so  broad  and  so  influential  for  good  or  evil, 
that  it  would  be  unpardonable  to  omit  the  consideration  of  it 
in  the  discussion  of  such  a  theme.  The  connection  of  natural 
science  with  natural  theology  and  the  written  Revelation  is 
daily  rising  in  seeming  importance,  and  demands  of  us  a  cool 
and  accurate  determination.  In  speaking  on  it,  you  will  allow 
me  not  a  poetic  but  a  j)rofessional  license  both  in  the  mode 
and  limits  of  the  discussion.  For  natural  theology  is  the  final 
end  of  all  these  sciences.  They  are  but  the  roots,  this  the 
lofty  tree.  Each  science  is  composed  first  of  facts  ;  then  of 
the  laws  and  relations  of  those  facts  to  each  other,  or  the 
metaphysics  of  that  science.  Then  above  these  there  are  laws 
common  to  several  or  all  these  dejiartments  of  knowledge, 
which  constitute  a  still  higher  system  of  metaphysics  ;  and 
these  again  hold  a  direct  relation  to  the  final  cause  of  all. 
The  more  general  divisions  of  natural  science  are  great  roots 
of  a  noble  tree — each  of  which,  while  it  has  a  distinct  system 
of  roots  of  its  own,  at  length  unites  and  forms  the  trunk 
which  bears  the  wide-spread  tree.  Natural  theology  is  the 
tree  which  springs  from  natural  science  as  its  root.  The 
creation  which  natural  science  investigates  and  analyzes,  exists 
prior  to  revealed  religion.  The  world  was  made  and  then 
man  to  inhabit  it.  The  house  was  made,  its  massive  foun- 
dations laid,  its  goodly  superstructure  uplifted,  and  all  its 


NATUKAL    SCIENCE    IN    ITS     RELATIONS,     ETC.      253 

wonderful  adornments  fashioned,  ere  man  was  created  as  its 
tenant.  "  Where  wast  thou,  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  earth  ?  declare  if  thou  hast  understanding.  Who  hath 
laid  the  measures  thereof,  if  thou  knowest  ?  or  who  hath 
stretched  the  line  upon  it  ?  Whereupon  are  the  foundations 
thereof  fastened  ?  or  who  laid  the  corner-stone  thereof,  when 
the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God 
shouted  for  joy  ?"  When  man  was  fashioned,  the  work  of 
creation  was  accomplished  ;  he  stood  upon  the  greensward  of 
a  blooming  creation,  and  gazed  forth  upon  ten  thousand  ob- 
jects of  natural  beauty  and  grandeur.  He  did  not  see  them 
come  into  existence  ;  they  antedated  his  being  ;  the  wondrous 
facts  of  natural  science  were  beneath,  around  and  above  him, 
the  first  walk  he  took  in  his  new  domain.  The  hosts  of 
heaven  wheeled  as  now  in  silent,  mazy,  burning  march  above 
his  head  ;  the  trees  hfted  their  tops  heavenward,  and  flowers 
bloomed  and  fruits  bluslied  into  ripeness,  while  field  and 
grove  and  watercourse  were  animated  with  the  busy  life  of  a 
teeming  population.  Now  out  of  this  thought  of  the  priority 
of  the  natural  to  the  written  revelation  of  the  Infinite,  there 
gi'ows  another,  that  natural  science  as  the  basis  of  natural 
theology  should  precede  or  accompany  the  fuller  and  more 
distinct  revelation  in  human  language — that  the  physical 
world  is  essential  to  the  full  establishment  and  unfolding  of 
the  idea  of  God  in  the  mind  of  man.  I  mean  not  to  deny 
that  the  All-powerful  can  manifest  himself  by  a  direct  inward 
inspiration,  independently  of  his  works.  I  will  not  speculate 
upon  the  possible  or  the  impossible  in  respect  to  him  whose 
infinite  resources  are  probably  known  to  us  only  in  their 
lowest  degree.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  consider  the  influences 
now  existing  within  the  human  heart  adverse  to  the  reception 
of  his  knowledge,  even  when  it  is  the  compound  heat  and 
light  of  both  natural  and  revealed  religion.  But  considering 
man  simply  as  he  was  originally  and  is  now  in  his  best  estate, 
a  being  of  exceedingly  limited  faculties,  it  seems  necessary 
that  he  should  have  something  more  than  mere  assertion^ 
although  that  were  made  by  the  voice  of  the  Creator  himself, 


254  L.I  T  E  R  A  R  T     ADDRESSES. 

to  preserve  and  develop  within  him  suitable  conceptions  of 
the  infinite  Lord.  The  physical  world  is  the  stable  mani- 
festation of  certain  attributes  of  that  Being,  addressing  the 
senses,  irresistibly  laying  hold  of  the  understanding,  and 
where  there  is  no  counteracting  force,  adapted  at  once  to 
suggest  the  noblest  ideas  of  God  and  impress  them  indelibly 
upon  the  soul.  It  is  the  body  in  which  the  thoughts  and 
mental  operations  of  the  Invisible  clothe  themselves,  in  order 
to  become  visible  to  the  eye  and  cognizable  as  elements  of 
reasoning  by  the  mind  of  man  ;  it  is  a  medium  of  manifesta- 
tion between  the  divine  and  human,  through  which  the  former 
reveals  himself,  in  ways  not  only  wonderfully  varied,  but 
adapted  to  create  in  the  soul  a  permanent  abode  for  the  grand 
and  awful  idea  of  a  creating  and  sovereign  Spirit.  To  under- 
stand this  more  fully — to  see  how  important  a  place  these 
natural  evidences  of  the  existence  and  attributes  of  God  hold 
as  a  foundation  even  for  the  written  revelation,  you  have  only 
to  imagine  this  globe  denuded  of  all  that  which  constitutes 
its  glory.  Let  the  verdure,  the  flowers,  the  trees,  the  fount- 
ains disappear ;  let  the  giant  rocks  and  the  open  strata  and 
the  vast  system  of  crystallization  which  has  ribbed  the  earth 
in  stone,  be  concealed  ;  let  neither  the  beauty  nor  the  melody 
of  the  brute  creation  meet  his  eye  or  fall  uj^on  his  ear,  while 
its  admirable  adaptation  to  promote  the  good  of  man  and 
evince  the  wisdom  of  the  Creator  is  hidden  from  his  view  ;  let 
the  heaven  above  him  no  longer  hang  out  its  myriad  lamps  at 
night  and  glow  with  noontide  brilliancy  ;  let  the  clouds  no 
more  condense  the  rain-dr(~>ps  and  reflect  in  images  of  celestial 
beauty  the  glories  of  the  setting  sun  ;  let  man  stand  alone, 
ignorant  of  his  own  structure,  maintained  by  direct  power 
from  above  through  no  agency  of  second  causes  ;  let  him  see 
around  him  only  a  dull,  fashionless  clod,  and  above  him  only 
a  canopy  of  equally  dull  and  formless  cloud  ;  let  him  witness 
no  evidences  of  divine  wisdom  in  the  creation  above  and  be- 
neath him,  aud  examine  no  specimens  of  the  divine  handi- 
work, such  as  will  carry  with  them  an  irresistible  demonstra- 
tion of  the  high  atfril)utes  of  Jehovah  ;  and  then  how  lono^ 


NATUKAL    SCIENCE    IN    i'tS     RELATIONS,     ETC.     255 

Avoukl  it  be  before  lie  gained  any  correct  idea  of  iiis  Creator, 
or  having  gained  it,  how  long  would  it  be  before  it  faded 
from  his  soul  ?  In  what  condition  would  he  be  to  receive  a 
spoken  or  a  written  revelation,  when  as  yet  there  have  never 
been  presented  to  his  senses  the  natural  evidences  of  any  of 
the  high  attributes  of  the  Infinite  ?  Nay,  is  it  not  true  that 
it  is  among  the  works  of  natural  science  that  the  mind  first 
and  most  constantly  finds  the  stimulus  for  exercise  ;  that  here 
it  learns  to  reason  and  generalize  and  ascend  from  effects  to 
causes — from  the  seen  to  the  unseen — from  the  known  to  the 
unknown — from  that  which  is  cognizable  in  part  to  that 
greater  part  which  lies  hidden  from  view  ?  Is  it  not  true, 
that  at  the  very  outset  of  its  career  the  mind  quickens  and 
expands  as  it  comes  in  healthful  contact  with  the  facts  of 
natural  science  ;  and  that  through  long  years  of  intellectual 
toil  it  acquires  the  power  to  grasp  in  part  the  immense  con- 
ception of  a  God  ?  Without  this  discipline,  without  these 
works  having  already  wrought  into  it  certain  great  and  fixed 
ideas  ;  or  without  the  presence  of  that  which  is  visible  and 
known  to  furnish  a  foundation  for  the  invisible  and  unknown, 
how  would  direct  assertions,  though  made  in  the  clearest  lan- 
guage, convey  suitable  ideas  of  God,  or  how  could  God  dem- 
onstrate his  being  to  man  ? 

But  change  this  scene,  transfer  the  solitary  man  from  that 
dull  globe  and  those  meaningless  clouds  to  our  living,  echoing 
universe,  wdth  its  stars  and  brilliant  skies  and  laboratory  of 
rain  drops  ;  with  its  animated  creation,  its  verdant  life,  its 
pleasant  fountains,  its  evidences  of  loveliness  and  wisdom 
multiplied  as  the  seconds  of  time — reaching  down  into  the 
earth  far  as  man  can  sink  his  shaft,  stretching  away  into  the 
heavens  far  as  the  telescope  can  penetrate ;  bring  him  into 
such  a  wurld  as  this,  where  the  attributes  of  God  look  out 
upon  him  from  every  object  on  which  his  eye  can  rest  or  his 
reason  study  ;  where  the  most  impressive  demonstrations  of 
what  God  is,  from  what  he  has  done,  encompafis  him  round 
and  force  themselves  upon  his  attention,  and  if  his  heart  is 
only  right,  will  there  not  be  a  preparation,  a  power  of  influ- 


256  LITERARY     'ADDRESSES. 

ence  mighty  to  create  the  noblest  ideas  of  God,  and  fill  him 
with  the  j)rofoimdest  reverence  ?  Can  he  look  out  upon  the 
ocean  sleeping  in  calmness,  or  uplifting  the  thunder  of  its 
surges,  without  grasj)ing  the  idea  of  boundless  power  ?  Can 
he  study  the  mechanism  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth  without 
receiving  the  most  affecting  conceptions  of  infinite  wisdom  ? 
Can  he  look  upon  the  images  of  beauty  that  everywhere  adorn 
the  face  of  nature,  without  attaining  a  vivid  idea  of  the  love- 
liness and  glory  of  him  who  threw  into  such  forms  so  large  a 
part  of  his  creation  ?  And  when  he  has  compassed  these 
demonstrations  of  the  natural,  will  his  mind  here  arrest  its 
progress,  and  at  the  very  threshold  of  the  moral  will  he  cease- 
to  reason  ?  Or,  will  he  not  enter  the  inner  temple  and  seek 
to  know  the  truth,  the  benevolence,  the  justice  and  the  holi- 
ness— the  moral  sovereignty  of  the  great  "/  am^ 

Now,  with  such  a  foundation  to  rest  upon,  with  such  a 
demonstration  to  work  with  and  prepare  the  way  ;  with  such 
convictions  already  wrought  into  the  mind  and  incorporated 
with  all  its  habits  of  thought ;  with  such  a  universe  of  testi- 
mony to  appeal  to — testimony  that  can  not  lie  and  that  can 
not  be  resisted  without  a  desperate  purpose,  men  are  prepared 
for  a  higher  revelation,  for  a  step  in  advance  of  all  the  teach- 
ings of  merely  natural  science,  and  the  means  are  furnished 
for  the  ready  communication  of  such  a  jDrofonnd  revelation, 
and  the  impressive  manifestation  of  it  to  the  soul.  Thus  it 
is  true  that  physical  science  the  farther  it  extends  its  re- 
searches, the  more  perfectly  it  analyzes  and  compares,  and 
combines  and  unfolds  the  real  structure  of  the  universe,  is 
but  uncovering  the  broad  foundations  on  which  the  wiitten 
revelation  may  sublimely  repose. 

But  while  this  is  the  general  relation  of  natural  science  to 
natural  theology,  yet  there  is  another  special  and  vastly  im- 
portant relation  which  the  progress  of  physical  science  sus- 
tains to  revelation.  For  it  is  in  part  on  the  physical  world 
that  this  revelation  is  made  to  rest  for  the  demonstration  of 
its  original ;  it  is  by  means  of  this  natural  science  and  its 
triumphs  that  one  portion  of  the  evidence  of  inspiration  is 


NATURAL     SCIENCE     IN    ITS     RELATIONS,     ETC.     257 

tested,  and  the  superiority  of  that  evidence  demonstrated  over 
all  fiilse  theogonies.  What  are  miracles  but  the  voice  of  the 
Creator  sjjeaking  through  physical  laws  of  his  own  creation, 
and  attesting  the  inspiration  of  prophet  and  ajwstle  ?  What 
are  they  hut  the  attestation  of  God  given  to  an  express  rev- 
elation in  the  same  way  as  his  works  attest  his  natural  char- 
acter ?  Gravitation  and  mobility  are  attributes  and  laws 
of  fluids  which  evince  the  being  and  wisdom  of  Jehovah;  and 
when  he  comes  forth  and  reverses  or  suspends  those  laws,  and 
channels  a  pathway  for  vast  armies  through  the  depths  of  the 
sea,  piling  up  the  waters  in  firm  walls  on  either  side  the  hu- 
man host,  what  is  that  but  the  Almighty,  through  a  physical 
element,  by  the  suspension  of  its  ordinary  laws,  demonstrat- 
ing his  presence,  as  he  did  originally  when  he  set  the  waters 
flowing,  and  made  it  their  nature  to  seek  the  lowest  level  ? 
Disease  and  death  are  results  of  the  operations  of  laws 
which  he  has  created  and  maintained,  and  as  such  they  de- 
clare his  almightiness  ;  but  when  to  attest  the  inspirations 
of  prophet  and  apostle,  disease  instantly  vanishes  and  death 
gives  up  its  prey,  and  for  the  time  a  new  set  of  laws  super- 
sedes the  old,  is  not  this  the  use  of  the  physical  creation  to 
demonstrate  the  divinity  of  the  spoken  and  written  word  ? 
It  is  the  fact  that  natural  science  has  just  such  a  voice,  and 
can  have  no  other  in  these  cases  ;  that  all  its  researches  have 
only  established  the  fact  that  water  is  mobile  and  flows  to  the 
center,  that  death  is  the  total  absence  of  life,  and  it  is  no  more 
within  the  reach  of  human  power  to  restore  the  vital  element, 
to  spread  the  flush  of  health  and  infuse  the  vigor  of  life  into 
the  cold  corpse,  than  to  create  a  world  ;  it  is  the  fact  that 
such  ever  has  been  and  ever  will  be  the  testimony  of  natural 
science,  that  gives  such  demonstration  to  miracles,  and  lifts 
them  above  all  the  jugglery  of  magicians  and  all  the  delusions 
and  trickery  with  which  superstition  seeks  to  impose  upon  the 
credulity  of  ignorance,  and  impresses  upon  them  a  universal 
and  permanent  truthfulness,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and 
for  ever.  For  if  the  time  should  ever  arrive  when  in  the  prog- 
ress of  science  the  secret  should  be  discovered  of  dividing  the 

17 


258  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

ocean  with  a  rod,  or  multiplying  bread  with  a  word,  or  re- 
storing the  dead  to  life,  then  would  this  branch  of  the  evi- 
dences of  inspiration  fall  to  the  ground,  and  these  miracles 
would  only  prove  the  greater  knowledge  and  skillfulness  of 
those  who  wrought  them.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  they 
baffle  all  the  research  of  wise  men,  and  amidst  the  triumphs 
of  science,  in  all  other  directions,  remain  as  impossible  to  un- 
aided human  power  as  on  the  day  they  were  wrought,  then 
does  that  science,  by  the  confession  of  its  impotence,  attest 
their  divinity. 

Having  thus  stated  on  the  one  side  the  connection  revela- 
tion holds  with  natural  science,  it  is  but  just  to  add  that  in 
another  view  Christianity  is  itself  a  science,  an  independent 
science  as  truly  as  geology  or  chemistry  or  astronomy.  It  has 
its  own  facts  and  its  own  laws  digested  into  a  regular  system. 
It  has  its  threefold  foundation  of  miracles,  prophecy  and  in- 
ternal character.  Each  of  these  proofs  of  inspiration  is  com- 
plete in  itself,  and  when  combined,  they  form  a  demonstration 
as  logical  and  substantial  and  immovable  as  that  furnished 
by  any  other  science  whatever.  Taking  our  stand  on  these, 
we  rest  with  as  firm  an  assurance  as  can  possess  the  human 
mind  in  respect  to  any  existence.  The  stars  in  their  courses 
may  seem  to  fight  against  us  ;  the  earth  may  seem  to  bring 
forth  her  long-concealed  testimony  against  that  we  hold  to  be 
truth  ;.  the  entire  field  of  natural  science  may  seem  to  bristle 
with  demonstrations  against  this  higher  science,  yet  neither 
the  stars,  nor  the  earth,  can  furnish  a  demonstration  against, 
at  all  comparable  with  that  which  already  exists  in  favor  of, 
Christianity.  There  may  be  those  who  regard  this  sj)irit  that 
is  abroad,  and  these  physical  pursuits,  as  inimical  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  firm  faith,  as  tending  to  the  overthrow  of  our 
assurance.  But  such  souls  have  never  studied  this  higher 
revelation  as  the  very  perfection  and  flower  of  all  the  sciences, 
rising  among  them  and  above  them,  sublime  and  eternal.  To 
change  the  figure,  it  is  not  an  arch  of  wood  that  shakes  be- 
neath the  burdens  it  must  bear,  that  decays  with  age,  and 
demands  with  each  successive  cycle  a  new  recruit  of  props  and 


NATURAL     SCIENCE     IN     ITS    RELATIONS,     ETC.     259 

timbers  to  supply  the  waste  of  time.  It  is  rather  an  arch  of 
living  stones,  compacted  by  the  onward  march  of  ages,  chal- 
lenging the  earthquake  to  upheave  and  the  universe  to  destroy. 
I  saw  the  man  of  science  dash  his  ax  against  the  wooden 
props  and  supports  which  the  fearful  friends  of  truth  had 
reared  beneath  it ;  I  saw  them  fall,  one  by  one,  while  at  each 
successive  overthrow  the  hearts  of  the  tremblers  grew  faint, 
and  the  triumphant  shout  of  the  opposers  rang  through  the 
world.  But  when  the  dust  of  the  conflict  was  settled,  behold 
the  same  goodly  arch  towering  in  its  own  naked  grandeur, 
self-supported,  and  more  grandly  revealed  than  before.  And  so 
when  natural  science  has  been  subsidized  to  give  utterance  to 
a  lying  testimony,  we  can  wait  awhile  until  a  new  induction 
has  taken  place  and  observation  has  a  wider  range,  and  the 
facts  assumed  as  the  basis  for  a  presumptuous  hypothesis, 
which  hasty  and  ardent  minds  had  woven  into  a  theory,  stand 
forth  in  a  new  light,  and  the  theory  falls  to  the  ground, 
while  the  truth,  biding  its  time,  at  length  comes  forth  radi- 
ant with  a  brighter  splendor  and  circled  with  a  more  brilliant 
crown. 

I  have  said  that  Christian  theology  was  a  science,  as  truly 
developed  in  all  its  parts,  related  and  bound  together  in  one 
magnificent  whole,  as  any  of  the  other  sciences — with  this 
great  difference — this  crown  imperial  upon  its  head,  that  it 
stands  nearest  the  eternal  throne  and  reflects  the  intensest 
brightness  of  the  divine  being,  that  it  lifts  the  vail  from  the 
future  and  opens  the  portals  of  hope  to  the  sons  of  time,  that 
it  visits  earth  not  so  much  to  weed  out  its  briars  and  thorns 
as  to  scatter  the  darkness  of  the  soul,  and  enable  the  once 
bowed  spirit  to  stand  erect  and  joyful  amidst  the  sorrows  of 
this  life,  and  bid  it  plume  its  pinions  for  a  heavenward  flight. 
It  is  too  often  forgotten  by  the  jn'ofessors  of  other  sciences, 
that  this  is  a  science  the  noblest  of  them  all,  and  in  some  re- 
spects the  most  difficult ;  that  it  has  its  learned  professors  of 
intellect  as  profound  and  sublime  as  any  the  world  has  known  ; 
that  it  has  its  volumes  of  learned  investigation,  its  transactions 
philological,  historical,  and  ethical,  its  inward  development 


260  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

in  the  growth  of  a  living  faith  unfolded  in  works  of  Christian 
biography,  its  outward  defenses  built  up  from  the  solid  rock 
of  unchanging  truth  so  high  that  no  adventurous  arrow  of 
the  assailant  can  scale  its  battlements — so  strong  that  no 
huge  battering  ram,  however  powerful  the  hand  that  wields 
it,  has  ever  succeeded  in  starting  a  single  stone.  It  has  been 
too  common  for  men  to  forget  this  fact,  and  as  a  consequence, 
in  the  language  of  an  eloquent  defender  of  our  faith.  Christian 
theology  has  been  considered  "  a  common  hunting  ground  ;" 
on  which  not  only  empirics  and  literary  mountebanks,  phre- 
nologizers  and  mesmerizers,  the  personal  caricatures  of  sci- 
ence, but  also  men  of  real  power  and  genius  and  learning  in 
their  respective  fields  of  inquiry,  have  felt  at  liberty  to  pursue 
their  prey  with  as  much  coolness  as  if  they  had  been  at  home 
in  the  wide  enclosure  for  centuries.  It  is  indeed  a  confessed 
truth  in  this  country  that  every  man  is  born  a  politician,  and 
from  a  child  upwards  rightfully  assumes  the  prerogative  to 
pronounce  upon  the  profoundest  affairs  of  State  and  call  his 
grandfather  an  ignoramus.  But  we  deny  that  men  are  born 
theologians,  or  that  the  study  of  every  thing  but  theology 
necessarily  qualifies  a  man  to  judge  of  such  a  vast  and  com- 
plicate system.  It  is  a  mystery  to  us  how  the  study  of  stars, 
or  rock  strata,  or  fossil  fish,  will  enable  a  man  to  interpret 
Hebrew  and  Greek.  Undoubtedly  all  science  hath  relations 
of  amity  and  support  to  theology  ;  and  if  these  relations  be 
duly  considered  and  rigidly  followed,  they  will  conduct  the 
student  to  a  point  where  reverently  he  will  wait  for  the  higher 
revelation  of  the  science  nearest  the  throne.  Yet  doth  every 
science  require  and  form  peculiar  habits  of  observation  and 
special  kinds  of  learning,  that  may  not  be  so  favorable  to 
the  investigation  of  other  sciences.  The  mathematician  has 
his  mode  of  demonstration,  and  the  jurist  his,  and  the  chemist 
his,  and  the  theologian  his,  and  the  classical  scholar  his.  And 
each  of  these  may  be  most  admirable  for  their  own  kind  of 
work,  yet  by  no  means  the  best  for  another  field  of  inquiry. 
It  is  not  usual  even  in  particular  sciences  or  professions  to 
look  for  universal  perfection,  or  adaptation  of  mind  to  all  its 


NATURAL    SCIENCE    IN    ITS    RELATIONS,    ETC.       261 

parts.  The  ablest  special  pleaders  at  the  bar  ;  the  acutest 
controversialists  in  divinity,  have  not  always  been  the  finest 
lawyers  or  the  most  comprehensive  theologians,  since  the  mind 
tm-ned  intensely  in  one  direction,  to  differences  and  words, 
does  not  so  readily  grasp  the  resemblances  and  fathom  the 
profounder  principles  which  underlie  both  law  and  theology. 
Still  more  strikingly  is  this  true  in  different  sciences,  where 
in  the  mode  of  investigation  there  is  little  if  any  resemblance. 
I  would  not,  in  these  remarks,  be  understood  as  intimating  a 
desire  that  you,  gentlemen  of  science,  should  conduct  your  in- 
vestigations trammeled  by  any  necessity  of  seeking  to  har- 
monize the  facts  you  may  discover  with  this  highest  of  all  the 
sciences.  Bring  forth  your  facts,  but  be  sure  th'Cy  are  facts  ; 
form  your  theories,  but  be  sure  they  have  a  Just  foundation  ; 
2)ush  your  investigations  into  the  heavens  above  and  the  earth 
beneath  ;  and  fear  not  that  it  is  possible,  though  you  study 
from  this  hour  to  the  conflagration,  though  you  should  pene- 
trate to  the  center  of  the  globe  and  ascend  to  the  central  pal- 
ace of  the  universe,  you  should  ever  discover  a  stone  or  a 
shrub,  a  comet  or  a  sun,  that  will  not  at  length,  when  you 
find  its  real  place  and  true  position,  lift  up  its  voice  with  all 
nature  and  providence  in  a  chorus  of  praise  to  him  who  re- 
deemed the  world.  Let  the  past  teach  you  ;  let  the  surgings 
of  science  backwards  and  forwards,  now  threatening  to  engulf 
Christianity  and  now  retiring  in  calmness,  teach  you.  Let 
this  gi'and  fact,  tliat  the  march  of  science  has  gathered  its 
trophies  and  laid  them  all  at  the  Redeemer's  feet,  admonish 
you  that,  however  glorious  may  be  your  discoveries,  there  is 
a  science  filled  with  an  intenser  light,  springing  forth  from 
the  heart  of  the  Creator,  that  like  Mount  Blanc,  grows  taller, 
lifts  itself  nearer  the  skies,  sparkles  with  a  more  glorious  ra- 
diance, is  crowned  with  a  grander  sublimity,  the  higher  you 
ascend  the  tops  of  the  mountains  that  cluster  round  its  base. 
There  is  abroad  among  many  minds  an  impression  that 
this  devotion  to  physical  science  and  art  is  apt  to  generate  a 
physical  spirit — that  the  occupation  of  the  mind  with  material 
things  tends  to  materialize  the  opinions  and  destroy  faith  in 


262  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

the  unseen  and  the  spiritual.  The  names  of  La  Place  and  La 
Grange,  and  others  of  kindred  nature,  are  made  to  bear  up  the 
burden  of  this  weighty  charge  against  the  study  of  the  works  of 
the  All-wise.  We  take  it  as  an  admitted  i^rinciple  in  this  dis- 
cussion, that  there  is  in  man  naturally  a  heart  of  unbelief  by 
which  the  most  amazing  manifestations  of  the  divine  may  be 
colored,  obscured,  and  resisted.  But  this  fact  bears  with  equal 
etrength  against  all  sciences,  whatever  be  their  nature — yea, 
even  against  the  right  understanding  of  the  sublimest  of  all 
revelations.  If  there  be  any  thing  peculiarly  destructive  of 
faith  in  these  physical  studies,  it  must  be  due  to  one  of  two 
causes.  It  must  arise  on  the  one  side  from  the  occupation  of 
the  senses  to  such  an  extent  as  to  forbid  the  exercise  of  rea- 
son— from  the  absorption  of  the  man  in  the  outward  and  the 
tangible  to  so  great  degree  as  to  prevent  the  full  development 
of  the  higher  powers  of  the  understanding  and  dull  his  soul 
to  the  perception  of  the  spiritual  and  unseen.  But  this  is 
directly  in  the  face  of  all  science — which  is  an  ascent  into  the 
region  of  systems  and  laws  and  forces  inferred  to  exist  from 
the  known  facts — this  is  downright  barbarism,  and  is  totally 
destructive  not  only  of  faith  but  of  mind  in  all  its  nobler 
actings.  Or  on  the  other  hand  this  tendency  to  materialism 
must  arise  from  apparently  a  directly  opposite,  but  substan- 
tially the  same  cause  as  that  just  mentioned.  If  in  these  in- 
vestigations the  man  of  science  carries  his  discoveries  so  far  as 
actually  to  see  through  all  nature — if  instead  of  finding 
mystery  within  mystery,  and  the  power  of  life  and  order 
eluding  the  most  thorough  resolution  of  all  known  phenom- 
ena, he  penetrates  the  mystery,  lays  hold  of  and  drags  forth 
to  light  the  plastic  power  which  arranges  and  vivifies  all  the 
material  world,  why  then  indeed  it  may  be  true — then  indeed 
it  would  be  true  that  natural  science,  prosecuted  to  its  farth- 
erest  limits,  would  materialize  his  views,  and  destroy  all  faith 
in  an  invisible  power  of  infinite  wisdom,  the  mighty  maker 
of  all  things.  But  if  the  longer  man  stretches  his  line  the 
deeper  this  awful  ocean  of  life  becomes  ;  if  the  farther  his 
telescope  penetrates  the  heavens,  and  his  microscope  the  earth, 


NATURAL     SCIENCE    IN     ITS     RELATIONS,     ETC.    263 

the  more  entirely  are  all  his  speculations  distanced  by  the 
magnificence  and  wisdom  of  the  scene  ;  if  the  more  searching 
his  analysis  into  principles  and  second  causes,  he  utterly  fails 
to  see  through  them — he  always  finds  back  of  all  his  re- 
searches a  mysterious  power  which  it  is  utterly  impossible  for 
him  to  grasp  or  comprehend  ;  if  he  finds  that  there  is  a  limit 
to  his  knowledge,  not  from  the  shalloAvness  of  the  subjects, 
but  from  the  nature  of  his  own  mental  faculties,  and  that  the 
smallest  flower  that  springs  up  at  his  feet  hath  that  within  it 
which  eludes  the  most  intense  vision  of  the  most  vigorous  in- 
tellect ;  if  he  sees  this  to  be  true,  not  in  one  or  two  instances, 
but  in  every  instance,  that  there  is  a  plastic  power  which  as- 
cends from  stones  to  stars,  and  pervades  all  creation  in  its 
wondrous  subtlety  and  influence,  then  he  is  obliged  to  helievt 
— then  he  is  brought  face  to  face  with  an  infinite  being,  whom 
by  searching  it  is  impossible  to  find  out  unto  perfection  :  and 
so  the  tendency — the  uncounteracted  force  of  these  material 
studies  is  to  bear  him  onward  to  a  sublime  faith  in  the  eter- 
nal Creator,  and  j^repare  his  mind  for  the  recej)tion  of  whatever 
further  light  he  may  see  fit  to  shed  upon  his  soul.  Thus  the 
"  unlocking  of  the  gates  of  sense"  is  made  ultimately  to  un- 
lock the  gates  of  the  spirit  to  the  entrance  of  the  grandest 
views  of  the  infinite  Lord.  The  march  of  this  science,  other 
things  being  equal,  will  be  the  triumph  of  a  lofty  and  intelli- 
gent faith — a  faith,  stripped  of  the  rags  of  superstition  and 
distorted  views  of  truth,  in  its  own  celestial  beauty  hastening 
to  attract  the  world  around  the  cross  of  Christ. 

Nor  is  it  true,  in  fact,  that  the  broad  stream  of  unbelief 
has  to  any  great  extent  been  fed  from  this  fountain.  Who 
have  been  the  famous  patriarchs  of  infidelity,  the  grand  mas- 
ters in  this  temple  of  nightshade  ?  Were  they  Copernicup 
and  Galileo,  the  Bacons  and  Keplers  and  Newtons,  and  a  host 
of  such  bright  names  ;  the  naturalists  to  whom  all  eyes  at 
once  turn  with  reverence,  whose  amazing  toils  created  a  new 
world  of  science,  and  gave  an  upward  impulse  to  the  human 
mind,  and  set  in  motion  that  train  of  causes  whose  results 
are  our  daily  wonder  and  thanksgiving  ?     Or  were  they  not 


264  LITEBARY     ADDRESSES. 

such  men  as  Bolingbroke  and  Hume  and  Gibbon  and  Voltaire 
and  Paine,  the  si^eculators,  the  moral  and  j^olitical  philoso- 
phers ;  men  who  set  reason  above  facts,  or  made  the  foots 
bend  to  their  logic  ?  And  in  these  latter  days,  whence  sprang 
that  mystic  rationalism  which  spirits  away  Christianity  in  a 
fog  of  doubts,  of  myths  and  fables,  and  degrades  the  chief 
revelation  of  the  Infinite  to  a  level  with  the  Iliad  of  Homer 
and  the  theogony  of  Hesiod  ?  Came  it  from  Davy  and  Her- 
schel  and  Cuvier  and  Humboldt,  the  grandest  naturalists  of 
their  day  ?  or  came  it  not  from  the  brains  of  a  Kant,  a 
Hegel,  a  Strauss,  and  others  of  like  character,  the  men  who 
spin  their  theories  not  out  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  but 
out  of  their  own  benighted  intellects  ?  What  form  of  infi- 
delity at  this  day  is  most  rampant,  insinuating,  plastic  and 
intractable  ?  Comes  it  from  natural  philosophy,  or  astron- 
omy, or  the  yet  infant  geology  ?  or  comes  it  not  from  a  false 
philology  which  misinterprets  Scripture,  and  a  false  philoso- 
phy wliich  misinterprets  life  and  its  great  ends  ?  Natural 
science  has  this  advantage,  that  fact  meets  fact,  the  hypothe- 
sis of  to-day  has  to  encounter  the  new  revelations  of  to- 
morrow ;  and  liowever  plausible  the  theory,  if  false,  it  can 
stand  but  a  little  while  amidst  the  keen  research  of  so  many 
minds  bent  upon  observation  and  eager  to  search  out  the  new 
and  the  true.  But  men  may  argue  on  other  questions,  and 
words  may  take  the  place  of  arguments,  and  ingenuity  triumph 
long  over  the  simple  truth.  Amidst  the  uncertainties  of  lan- 
guage and  the  intangible  nature  of  abstract  ideas,  sophistry 
has  always  found  room  to  build  labyrinths  more  intricate 
tlian  that  of  Crete,  in  which  the  strong  and  the  bold  have 
been  incarcerated,  and  from  which  no  Ariadne  has  furnished 
a  clue  to  escape.  Bewildered  amidst  the  intricacies  of  abstract 
reasoning,  and  reaching,  by  the  terms  of  logic,  conclusions  that 
the  instinctive  nature  of  man  proclaims  folse  and  absurd,  they 
have  often  brought  the  very  name  of  metaphysics  into  con- 
tempt, and  involved  all  enquiries  into  the  abstract  relations 
of  things  in  their  own  disgrace.  But  in  natural  science,  al- 
though there  may  be  the  same  readiness  to  adopt  unwarranted 


NATURAL    SCIENCE    IN    ITS    RELATIONS,     ETC.    265 

conclusions,  and  the  same  impatience  of  protracted  investiga- 
tion, and  the  same  imwillingness  to  wait  the  gathering  to- 
gether of  the  requisite  materials  for  the  establishment  of  a 
sound  theory,  yet  there  is  not  the  same  room  for  the  play  of 
the  imagination  and  the  freedom  of  speculation  ;  and  if  there 
were,  there  is  a  way  of  meeting  idle  conjecture  by  bringing 
forth  the  results  of  a  farther  observation — of  overturning  a 
false  hypothesis  by  the  testimony  of  tangible  and  stubborn 
facts,  far  superior  to  that  which,  on  the  field  of  metaphysics, 
the  advocate  of  truth  must  pursue  to  overtake  and  expose  the 
advocate  of  error.  While  then  we  admit  that  in  such  pur- 
suits the  human  mind,  bearing  about  with  it  the  common  in- 
firmities of  our  nature,  may  stray  into  the  dark  regions  of 
error  ;  while  we  admit  that  minds  undisciplined  by  the  exer- 
cise of  faith  in  the  higher  mysteries  of  Christian  truth,  may 
even  seek  to  array  nature  against  revelation  and  wield  the 
forces  and  facts  of  a  material  creation  to  obscure  and  obliter- 
ate the  powers  and  truths  of  a  spiritual  creation,  yet  we  do 
not  admit  that  this  is  due  to  the  nature  of  the  pursuit  or  the 
tendency  of  physical  science — that  there  is  any  thing  in  the 
study  of  the  material  creation  specially  adapted  to  destroy  our 
faith  in  the  unseen  or  hostile  to  the  Christian  revelation. 
Science  falsely  called,  sciolism  and  sciolists,  the  froth  and 
■  scum  of  the  age,  are  often  found  thus  waging  war  with  that 
truth  whose  foundations  they  have  never  reached,  and  on  whose 
sunlit  summits  their  eyes  have  never  gazed.  But  true  science 
hath  in  itself  a  native  sympathy  with  all  the  truth  of  God, 
and  gently  draws  the  wayward  heart  it  has  led  captive  towards 
the  richer  manifestation  of  Ms  being  and  attributes,  his  word 
and  works,  in  whom  all  knowledge  finds  its  center  and 
widest  circumference.  And  as  natural  science  shall  advance 
in  its  conquests,  and  rise  to  a  fuller  comprehension  of  the 
globe  we  inhabit  and  the  universe  of  which  it  forms  so  small 
a  part,  its  every  step  will  bring  us  nearer  the  mighty  source 
of  being,  and  into  nearer  relations  to  the  written  revelation, 
until  to  study  creation  will  be  to  study  the  plainest  demon- 
strations of  the  truth  and  inspiration  of  that  sublime  word. 


266  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

in  which  the  unseen  world,  and  all  the  future  life,  and  all  the 
amazing  mysteries  of  Kedemption  are  so  clearly  unfolded — 
until  the  ivorks  of  God  shall  everywhere  be  found  so  to  bear 
up  His  loords,  that  the  former  shall  be  seen  to  be  the  deep 
and  broad  foundation  on  which  the  latter  repose.  In  these 
rapid  advances  of  physical  investigation,  and  these  noble  tri- 
umphs which  every  month  and  year  herald  to  the  world,  we 
behold  the  growth  of  a  mighty  ally  of  Eevelation.  These 
facts,  which  Unbelief  would  wrest  to  the  overthrow  of  her 
sovereignty,  will  array  themselves  in  legions,  compact  and 
disciplined,  on  her  side.  The  new  power  that  is  bringing  into 
neighborhood  the  antipodes,  and  spreading  the  influence  of 
Christian  nations  round  the  world,  is  preparing  the  way  for 
the  triumphant  march  of  a  Prince  whose  vesture  is  the  stars, 
whose  chariot  the  clouds,  whose  crown  is  the  sun,  whose 
sword  is  truth  sublime  and  eternal,  and  whose  voice  is  the 
sound  of  many  waters. 

Young  gentlemen  of  the  Miami  Union  Literary  So- 
ciety, I  can  not  close  these  imperfect  remarks  on  the  rela- 
tions of  natural  science  to  other  sciences  and  pursuits,  with- 
out an  allusion  to  him  whose  name,  often  mentioned  on  these 
occasions,  never  fails  to  awaken  fresh  enthusiasm  ;  the  broad- 
minded,  clear-sighted,  independent  spirit,  far  in  the  advance 
of  his  own  age  ;  the  boy  who,  at  fifteen,  left  Cambridge  in 
disgust  at  the  suppression  of  all  free  inquiry  at  the  sources 
of  truth,  and  the  uniform  idolatry  of  precedents  and  an- 
tiquity. 

"  The  great  deliverer  he  I  who  from  the  gloom 
Of  cloistered  monks  and  jargon-teaching  schools, 
Led  forth  the  true  philosophy — here  long 
Held  in  the  magic  chain  of  words  and  forms, 
And  definitions  void ;  he  led  her  forth, 
Daughter  of  heaven  I — that  slow  ascending,  still 
Investigating  sure  the  chain  of  things. 
With  radiant  finger  points  to  heaven  again." 

Bacon,  as  we  look  back  upon  him,  resembles  an  oak, 
springing  beneath  the  roof  and  within  the  walls  of  a  con- 


NATURAL    SCIENCE    IN    ITS    RELATIONS,  ETC.      267 

servatory,  till  at  length  the  vigorous  branches  upheave  the 
roof  and  rend  the  walls,  and  the  gigantic  tree  stands  forth 
uncovered  to  the  blessed  sun  and  the  free  winds  of  heaven,  at 
liberty  to  grow  as  the  great  Creator  made  the  forest  king  to 
grow,  and  teach  the  world  a  lesson  of  liberty  for  the  immortal 
mind.  I  stay  not  to  describe  at  length  a  character,  better 
described  a  thousand  times  before  ;  I  stay  not  even  to  lay  my 
tribute  of  gratitude  at  his  feet,  for  that  he  hath  already,  and 
from  every  shore  go  pilgrims  yearly,  and  will  till  time  shall 
end,  to  wreath  that  thoughtful  statue  which  surmounts  his 
grave  with  bays  ever  green  and  ever  fresh,  the  offerings  of 
thankful  souls.  It  is  to  one  trait  in  his  character  that  I  wish 
to  direct  your  attention  and  solicit  your  imitation.  No  man 
felt  more  deeply  the  deceitfulness  of  the  heart,  its  liability  to 
err,  and  the  danger  of  that  pride  of  science  which  blinds  the 
mind  to  the  richest  truths  of  heaven.  Study  his  Novum 
Organum — analyze  his  idols  of  the  tribe — the  den — the  mar- 
ket— the  theater  ;  and  behold  the  true  humility  of  the  plii- 
losopher,  conscious  of  human  weakness  and  deeply  sensible  of 
his  own.  Hear  him  say — "  We,  for  our  part  at  least,  over- 
come by  the  eternal  love  of  truth,  have  committed  ourselves 
to  uncertain,  steep,  and  desert  tracks,  and  trusting  and  rely- 
ing on  divine  assistance,  have  borne  up  our  mind  against  the 
violence  of  opinions,  drawn  up  as  it  were  in  battle  array, 
against  our  own  internal  doubts  and  scruples,  against  the  mists 
and  clouds  of  nature,  and  against  fancies  flitting  on  all  sides 
around  us  ;  that  we  might  at  length  collect  some  more  trust- 
worthy and  certain  indications  for  the  living  and  posterity." 
Listen  to  his  prayer  as  a  student — "  To  Grod  the  Father,  Grod 
the  Word,  God  the  Spirit,  we  put  forth  most  humble  and 
hearty  supplications,  that  human  things  may  not  prejudice 
such  as  are  divine;  neither  that,  from  the  unlocking  of  the 
gates  of  sense,  and  the  kindling  of  a  greater  natural  light, 
any  thing  of  incredulity  or  intellectual  night  may  arise  in  our 
minds  toward  divine  mysteries."  Study  nature  thus,  let 
the  consciousness  of  weakness  and  the  adverse  forces  around 
you,  and  the  necessary  limitations  of  knowledge  lead  you 


268  LITERARY     ADDRESSES. 

ever  to  give  utterance  to  such,  petitions  and  exercise  such  a 
spirit. 

These  scenes,  this  place,  these  societies,  all  bring  before  my 
mind  one  who  here  studied,  who  ripened  from  boyhood  to  a 
resplendent  manhood  in  these  halls,  whose  mind  gained  its 
finish  and  discipline  in  the  exercise  of  these  societies,  whose 
character  was  molded  into  a  lofty  integiity  under  the  instruc- 
tions given  in  yonder  edifice  ;  one  voice,  that  has  often  pealed 
forth  its  eloquent  music  and  fervid  declamation  in  this  place, 
is  heard  here  no  more  ;  one  heart,  whose  interest  in  this  in- 
stitution never  diminished,  beats  no  more  ;  one  mind  that 
aided  in  the  direction  and  oversight  of  this  his  Alma  Mater, 
is  absent  from  her  council  ;  one  eye  that  yearly  looked  forth 
in  calm  brilliancy  upon  these  scenes,  is  closed  for  ever.  Twice 
have  these  fields  and  trees  adorned  themselves  with  their 
summer  robes  since  Charles  Telford  ceased  from  earth.  Yet 
here  lives  his  memory  in  many  hearts  ;  and  in  yon  Queen 
City,  where  the  college  youth  ascended  to  the  level  of  the 
loftiest  minds,  there  lives  a  deeper  memory  of  an  integrity 
that  never  swerved  from  its  high  purpose — a  character  that 
shed  luster  upon  his  noble  profession — a  faith  in  the  truth  of 
Christ  that  abode  and  grew  stronger  till  the  hour  of  his  de- 
parture. Cut  down  in  the  dawn  of  a  most  splendid  day — 
denied  on  earth  that  most  brilliant  career  which  seemed  open- 
ing upon  him,  he  has  left  behind  that  which  will  endure 
when  the  triumphs  of  his  intellect  are  all  forgotten — the  stern 
integrity  and  unfaltering  faith  of  one  whose  vision  took  in  the 
grandeur,  and  whose  heart  reposed  upon  the  consoling  truths 
of  the  Christian  scheme.  Let  that  faith  be  yours  ;  let  that 
integrity  constitute  your  crown ;  let  your  intellectual  tri- 
umphs be  adorned  by  such  an  unwavering  trust  in  the  unseen 
Jehovah,  and  you  will  not  only  shed  luster  on  your  society 
and  this  institution,  refine  and  ennoble  your  species,  and  live 
in  the  memories  of  earth,  but  when  the  science  of  this  world 
shall  be  unable  to  sustain  you  amid  the  gathering  shades  of 
the  night  of  the  grave,  a  light  from  the  skies  shall  illumine 
your  spirit  and  reveal  the  open  portals  of  a  better  world. 


NATURAL     SCIENCE     IN     ITS     RELATIONS,     ETC.    269 

To-day,  too,  your  eyes  have  looked  upon  the  form,  and 
your  ears  have  heard  the  voice,  of  one  whose  life  and  vigor 
have  been  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Christian  science  in  this 
western  world — who  long  presided  with  great  honor  over  this 
institution,  and  sent  forth  from  its  walls  many  who  now  stand 
in  posts  of  influence  and  usefulness  throughout  the  land — 
whose  grQen  old  age  is  still  consecrated  to  the  same  sublime 
ends — to  whom  generations  shall  look  back  with  gratitude 
and  affection  as  a  master-builder  in  laying  the  foundations  of 
that  vast  temple  of  science,  which,  rising  in  this,  our  free 
land,  shall  yet  tower  above  all  the  Orient  and  look  out  be- 
nignantly  upon  the  broad  Pacific.  Need  I  name  him,  "  da- 
rum  et  vener^abile  nomen  V  * 

"  Serus  in  caelum  redeas,  diuque 
Lceius  inter  sis"  nobis. 

*  Rev.  Dr.  Bishop. 


HISTORICAL  DISCOURSES  AND  ESSAYS. 


I 


IX. 

JOHN    CALVIN.* 

It  is  singular  that,  looking  through  the  innumerable  vol- 
umes of  biography  which  have  issued  from  the  British  and 
American  press,  we  can  not  find  a  life  of  "  the  Theologian" 
of  the  Reformation,  at  once  full,  just,  and  adapted  to  the 
popular  mind.  The  life  by  Beza,  prefixed  to  Calvin's  works, 
although  eminently  just  and  appreciative,  is  yet  entirely  too 
brief  to  satisfy  the  inquu'ies  which  naturally  suggest  them- 
selves respecting  such  a  man.  He  wrote  also  as  a  cotemporary, 
when  much  was  known  of  Calvin's  private  and  pul)lic  life, 
which  he  might  not  regard  as  of  special  importance,  but 
which  now  would  be  of  intense  interest,  as  tending  to  throw 
light  both  upon  the  Eeformer's  character  and  the  progress  of 
the  Reformation.  As  a  cotemporary,  Beza  was  not  in  a  posi- 
tion to  'vsTite  such  a  biography  as  this  age  demands.  He  must 
write,  if  he  write  at  all,  in  the  spirit  of  those  times,  and  in 
harmony  with  the  current  feelings  of  his  generation.  He  could 
not  well  foresee  the  change  which,  on  some  questions,  would 
be  effected  in  three  centuries.  He  could  not  jmt  himself  for- 
ward, amidst  the  altered  opinions  and  feelings  of  the  Protest- 
ant world  at  this  day,  and  adjust  his  view  of  the  Reformer  to 
meet  our  wants.  But  his  work  is  preeminently  valuable  as  a 
record  of  the  impressions  made  by  Calvin  upon  one  who  knew 
him  intimately — one  who,  by  his  deep  learning  and  varied 
talents,  was  capable  of  justly  appreciating  his  intellect  and 
heart. 

The  great  work  of  Dr.  Paul  Henry,  published  in  its  com- 
plete form  in  1844,  begins  a  new  era  in  respect  to  our  knowl- 

*  From  the  Presbyterian  Qtiarttrly  for  December.  ISol^  and  Juno,  1855 
18 


274      HISTOEICAL     DISCOUKSES     AND     ESSAYS. 


edge  of  the  Keformer.  It  is  the  result  of  more  than  twenty 
years'  patient  research  into  all  the  sources  of  information  open 
to  the  historian,  on  the  Continent.  He  has  combined  the 
various  particulars  of  Calvin's  Hfe  with  an  analysis  of  his  most 
important  works,  and  a  general  review  of  the  period  of  the  Kef- 
in-mation.  Dr.  Henry  has  the  rare  advantage,  in  a  biographer, 
of  being  heartily  in  sympathy  with  his  subject.  He  has  pene- 
trated beneath  the  less  attractive  exterior,  into  the  inner  spirit- 
ual life  and  deep  Christian  experience,  which  more  than  all 
things  else  enriches  the  writings  of  Calvin.  He  has  formed  a 
clear  and  just  idea  of  the  peculiar  intellectual  power  which  dis- 
tinguished the  author  of  the  "  Institutes"  and  the  volumes  oi 
commentary  on  the  w^ord  of  Grod.  Perhaps  he  is  as  impartial 
as  any  man  could  be  who  had  dwelt  so  long  under  the  direct 
influence  of  this  mighty  mind.  To  the  theologian  and  the 
scholar  his  work  is  invilluable  as  a  mine  of  original  materials 
and  genial  criticism  ;  and,  in  this  respect,  it  will  never  be 
superseded.  But,  as  a  work  for  the  reader  and  especially  the 
American  reader,  it  has  certain  characteristics  that  will  ma- 
terially interfere  with  its  usefulness,  and  greatly  limit  its  cir- 
culation. The  division  of  the  work  is  rather  artificial  than 
natural,  and  necessitates  a  great  deal  of  repetition  and  many 
aj^parent  anachi-onisms.  He  considers  Calvin's  life  and  char- 
acter under  three  divisions  ;  the  first  of  which  embraces  the 
formation  and  development  of  his  doctrinal  views  ;  the  sec- 
ond, his  system  of  discipline  and  his  efforts  to  establish  it ; 
while  the  third  describes  his  controversial  labors  in  the  defense 
of  Protestantism  against  the  Papacy,  and  his  own  form  of 
Protestantism  against  errorists  and  schismatics.  Now  it  so 
happens,  that  while  in  Calvin's  life  these  three  di\asions  have 
an  cqyparent,  they  have  no  real  foundation.  It  is  impossible 
to  carry  out  such  a  jjlan  as  this  without  constantly  returning 
to  portions  of  the  life  already  passed  over.  It  is  not  like 
traveling  over  the  successive  stages  of  the  same  road,  but  like 
traversing  in  succession  three  parallel  roads.  Chronology  is 
set  at  defiance.  Dates  mix  themselves  up  in  singular  confu- 
sion.   The  men  whom  you  saw  hurry  over  the  first  road,  you 


JOHN     CALVIN.  275 

journey  with  again  on  the  last.  On  this  plan,  it  is  next  to 
impossible  to  have  a  single  full  picture  of  the  Keformer  or  a 
connected  view  of  his  life. 

Nor  is  this  the  natural  development  of  the  subject.  In 
the  real  life  these  several  parts  cohere  as  one  whole.  Dr.  Mott 
might  just  as  well  dissect  a  body  in  parallel  sections  as  Dr. 
Henry  write  a  life  in  that  form.  Calvin  began  as  a  theolo- 
gian, but  his  commentaries,  his  establishment  of  the  Presby- 
terian discipline  and  his  manifold  efforts  in  defense  of  the 
faith,  synchronized  to  a  large  extent  with  each  other.  Plis 
efforts  to  establish  Presbytery  began  with  his  first  settlement 
at  Geneva.  His  controversial  tracts  date  back  to  the  exile  at 
Strasburg  and  the  masterly  letter  to  Sadolet.  His  commen- 
taries occupied  him  all  his  life  as  a  pastor  ;  and  though  there 
were  particular  periods  when  he  was  more  absorbed  in  one  or 
the  other  of  these  things,  yet  it  is  not  possible  to  divide  the 
whole  life  by  them,  in  regular  chronological  sequence. 

This  mode  of  writing  destroys  the  charm  of  progress  which 
one  feels  in  advancing  through  a  biography.  It  fails  to  leave 
upon  the  general  reader  any  very  distinct  and  single  impres- 
sion, and  it  is  only  possible  for  the  scholar  to  attain  a  con- 
nected view  by  the  slow  process  of  reconstructing  the  mate- 
rials for  himself  It  furnishes,  indeed,  a  fine  opportunity  for 
the  introduction  of  dissertations  and  philosophical  essays  on 
topics  connected  with  th:,'  Keformation.  In  this  respect,  Dr. 
Henry  has  enriched  his  work  with  many  profoundly  suggest- 
ive discussions.  But  this  kind  of  writing  is  not  exactly  biog- 
raj)hy,  except  as  it  rises  naturally  out  of  the  life  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  is  designed  to  set  that  life  forth  more  completely. 
Even  then,  however,  it  is  necessary  rather  to  touch  lightly 
and  briefly  upon  such  points.  We  protest  against  the  intro- 
duction of  long,  abstruse  and  barren  analyses  of  all  the  works 
an  author  may  have  written,  into  the  body  of  his  biography. 
It  is  amply  sufficient  to  show  the  occasion  and  the  general 
manner  of  his  work,  and  its  relation  to  his  own  development 
or  that  of  his  time.  It  is  much  better  for  the  general  readef 
to  have  the  minute  and  critical  examinations  of  an  author's 


276      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS, 

writings  placed  in  a  volume  by  themselves,  as  Orme  has  treated 
the  Life  and  Works  of  Baxter. 

If  to  this  artificial  division,  and  the  substitution  of  these 
miscellaneous  dissertations  for  lively  and  graphic  narrative, 
we  add  a  style  somewhat  heavy  and  diffuse,  we  shall  see  clearly 
enough  the  reason  why  this  hfe  of  Calvin  will  not  be  able  to 
take  rank  with  the  living  history  of  D'Aubigne  as  a  work  for 
the  popular  mind.  The  latter  writes  history  as  if  it  were  bi- 
ography, and  his  work  has  all  the  interest  which  attaches  to 
the  life  of  Johnson  or  Defoe ;  while  the  former  writes  biogra- 
phy as  if  it  were  philosophical  history,  and  occupies  a  posi- 
tion, in  respect  to  j)opular  interest,  not  unlike  Hallam  in  his 
historical  essays.  With  all  these  subtractions,  however,  this 
work  will  remain  as  one  of  the  most  original,  comprehensive, 
and  noble  contributions  to  the  history  of  the  great  Reformer 
and  his  times.  For  the  scholar,  it  will  continue  to  be  the 
most  important  aid  in  the  formation  of  a  just  opinion  of  the 
most  hated  and  the  most  admired  man  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury ;  the  man  who,  above  all  the  mighty  minds  of  that  pe- 
riod— rich  though  it  was  in  great  names  beyond  any  equal 
period  of  the  past — gave  form  and  systematic  development  to 
Protestantism,  and  originated  those  republican  theories  which 
are  now  spreading  through  the  world. 

The  life  of  Calvin,  by  Dyer,  written  by  an  Englishman, 
and  published  some  years  subsequent  to  the  great  work  of 
Henry,  has  the  merit,  wliich  we  have  denied  to  the  former,  of 
lively  and  graphic  description.  It  has  been  characterized  as  a 
mere  compilation  from  Henry  and  others.  But  this  does  not 
do  it  justice.  There  are  some  facts  brought  out  in  it  that  we 
have  seen  nowhere  else  ;  and  the  whole  together  fonns  a  con- 
secutive biography,  possessing  much  more  unity  and  interest 
as  a  popular  work  than  that  of  the  German.  Instead,  how- 
ever, of  being  worthy  of  the  subject,  it  is  the  rarest  piece  of 
special  pleading  to  sustain  a  foregone  conclusion  that  we  have 
ever  met  with  in  court  or  out  of  it.  He  systematically  exag- 
gerates the  failings  and  contracts  the  excellences  of  the  Re- 
former.    He  never  rises  to  a  broad  and  impartial  view  of  his 


JOHN     CALVIN.  277 

real  position.  He  judges  Calvin  just  emerging  from  Eoman- 
ism,  and  with  the  shadows  of  the  escaping  darkness  yet  rest- 
ing on  the  foot  of  the  glorious  mountain  whose  summit  was 
bathed  in  the  rising  sunlight,  as  if  he  lived  and  acted  in  this 
day  when  the  sun  had  reached  the  meridian.  He  exhibits  an 
astonishing  ingenuity  in  the  misinterpretation  of  garbled  ex- 
tracts of  letters  whose  whole  tenor  and  spirit  lead  us  to  a  di- 
rectly opposite  conclusion.  With  remarkable  tact  and  under 
professions  of  the  strictest  impartiality,  he  so  groups  together 
the  testimony  against,  and  so  destroys  by  sly  insinuations  that 
which  is  in  favor  of  Calvin,  as  to  distort  the  character  he  pro- 
fesses to  describe  and  blacken  the  man  he  pretends  to  admire. 
A  more  thorough  biographical  pettifogger  the  annals  of  this 
class  of  writing  have  yet  to  furnish.  It  is  in  perfect  keejjing 
for  Beda,  Duprat,  and  the  inventors  of  popish  legends,  to  ex- 
ecrate the  man  who,  more  than  all  others,  gave  existence,  form 
and  perpetuity  to  the  Eeformed  Church  ;  but  it  is  passing 
strange  that  a  Protestant,  in  this  nineteenth  century,  should 
be  found  capable  of  writing  a  work  wherein  all  that  can  be 
brought  to  bear  against  him  is  set  forth  with  dogmatic  confi- 
dence, while  the  excellencies  that  adorned  or  constituted  his 
real  life  are  only  glanced  at  sideways,  or  admitted  reluctantly 
with  an  over-cautious  "  may  be." 

We  propose,  in  this  article,  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
life  of  the  Reformer,  and  hereafter  to  trace  out  his  influence 
upon  the  world,  and  compare  his  character  with  some  of  the 
other  great  leaders  of  the  Reformation.  Once  for  all,  we  give 
Dr.  Henry  credit  for  much  that  we  shall  say,  which  it  has  not 
been  convenient  to  note  as  his  at  the  time  of  writing. 

John  Calvin  was  born  at  Noyon,  in  the  north  of  France, 
July  10, 1509,  a  little  after  the  time  that  Luther,  then  twenty- 
six  years  old,  entered  the  university  of  Wittenberg,  as  Aris- 
totelian professor.  His  father,  Gerhard  Calvin,  the  notary 
apostolic  and  procurator  fiscal  of  the  county  of  Noyon,  was 
in  high  favor  with  the  chief  men  of  the  province.  He  was 
for  a  time  educated  at  his  father's  expense  in  the  family  of 
the  Mommors,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  in  that  region. 


278      HISTORICAL     DISCOUKSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

He  early  evinced  a  fondness  for  study  and  a  freedom  from 
boyish  excesses.  His  father  destined  him  for  tlie  Church,  and 
had  influence  sufficient  to  procure  for  him,  in  March,  1521,  a 
vacant  chaplaincy  in  the  cathedral  of  his  native  town.  Thus, 
at  twelve  years  of  age,  was  our  young  Eeformer  invested  Avith 
the  clerical  character.  A  week  after  his  election  "  the  child's 
hair  was  solemnly  cut  by  the  bishoji,"  and  by  this  act  of  "ton- 
sure" he  was  made  capable  of  entering  the  priesthood  and 
united  with  that  mighty  hierarchy,  to  oppose  and  overthrow 
which  the  energies  of  his  life  were  afterwards  devoted.  Here 
he  was  not  destined  to  stay.  Two  years  after  this  event,  while 
the  plague  was  raging  at  Noyon,  his  father  procured  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authority  permission  to  send  him  to  Paris  for  the 
prosecution  of  his  studies. 

The  custom  of  appointing  children  to  ecclesiastical  offices 
seems  to  us  preposterous.  The  election  of  bishops  four  years 
old,  and  the  investiture  of  mere  children  with  some  of  the 
most  important  and  lucrative  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  Church, 
infers  an  amount  of  corruption  and  a  total  want  of  a  just  es- 
timate of  the  ministry,  scarcely  credible  in  a  nominally  Chris- 
tian church.  Yet  with  all  this  abuse  and  evil  there  was  an 
idea  connected  that  has  done  much  to  give  efficiency  to  Ro- 
manism. It  i&  part  of  this  system  that  whoever  gives  him- 
self to  its  ministry,  or  is  given  by  his  parents,  shall  be  cared 
for,  placed  in  a  position  where  he  may  either  serve  the  Church 
at  the  time  or  be  in  2->i"ocess  of  training  for  future  service. 
The  child  in  the  school,  the  convent  or  the  college,  whose 
future  life  is  to  be  devoted  to  the  service  of  Roman  Catholi- 
cism, has  all  the  resources  and  authority  of  the  Church  pledged 
to  sustain  it.  This  watchful  guardianship  of  a  young  priest- 
hood, and  this  purpose  to  train  men  at  her  own  expense  for 
all  her  ecclesiastical  work,  is  significant  of  the  energy  and 
success  with  which  Rome  moves  forward.  She  not  only  has 
her  own  schools  and  colleges,  but  she  seizes  upon  the  most 
talented  of  her  youth,  and  spares  no  pains  to  fit  them  for  her 
work.  The  men  whom  she  counts  upon  for  special  labors  are 
not  suffered  to  limit  their  education  by  the  advantages  of 


JOHN     CALVIN.  27!) 

provincial  institutions.  They  are  sent  to  Rome  itself,  the 
metropolis  of  that  feith,  there  to  enjoy  the  rarest  literary 
privileges  under  the  most  accomplished  masters.  Calvin  owes 
a  part  of  his  training  to  the  Church  he  subsequently  sought 
to  reform.  And  our  Protestant  churches  will  never  reach  tho 
greatest  efficiency  until,  as  churches,  they  take  in  hand  the 
training  of  an  evangelical  ministry  and  secure  to  every  ac- 
ceptable candidate  a  fair  support. 

Calvin  remained  at  Paris  for  more  than  four  years,  and 
prosecuted  his  studies  in  Latin  and  philosophy,  under  the  in- 
struction, among  others,  of  Maturnius  Cordier,  whose  "Col- 
loquies" are  not  yet  wholly  disused,  and  who  subsequently 
renounced  papacy,  and  spent  the  closing  years  of  his  long 
and  useful  life  in  Geneva,  under  the  pastoral  charge  of  his 
pupil. 

When  eighteen  years  of  age,  Calvin  received  the  living  of 
Marteville,  "altogether  against  rule,  for  he  was  not  yet  in  or- 
ders, having  received  only  the  tonsure."  Here  and  at  Pont 
I'Eveque,  he  preached  several  times.  Up  to  this  time  he  had 
never  been  acquainted  with  a  Bible.  The  period  of  his  resi- 
dence at  Paris  was  one  of  the  most  stirring  in  the  history  of 
Europe.  Francis  I.,  defeated  at  Pavia,  was  a  captive.  Charles 
had  besieged  and  taken  Rome  itself.  The  Reformation  was 
spreading  in  every  direction  throughout  Europe.  In  Paris  the 
Sorbonne,  with  Beda  at  their  head,  had  inaugurated  the  era 
of  martyrdom  ;  and  in  the  Place  de  Gr^ve  and  the  Close  of 
Notre  Dame,  the  nameless  "Hermit"  and  the  young  Pavenne 
had  already  gone  up  in  chariots  of  fire,  the  foremost  of  that 
vast  army  of  Christ's  witnesses  whose  blood  was  to  moisten 
the  soil  of  France. 

Yet  now,  for  the  first  time,  is  this  young  chaplain  and 
preacher  made  acquainted  with  that  book  which,  in  every  true 
Christian  family,  is  the  first  a  child  is  taught  to  read  and  the 
last  that  is  read  when  old  age  is  about  to  close  its  eyes  upon 
this  world.  Romanism  had  shut  up  the  Bible.  It  was  not 
lawful  to  read  it  in  the  family.  It  formed  no  part  of  the 
training  of  the  priesthood.     It  entered  not  at  all  into  the  life 


280         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

of  that  church  which  professed  to  be  the  only  church  of 
Christ.  It  was,  most  probably,  the  yet  unpublished  transla- 
tion of  Kobert  Olivetan,  a  near  relation,  which  first  opened 
the  eyes  of  Calvin.  He  began  to  see  the  errors  of  Komanism. 
He  felt  uneasy  in  his  position  as  a  pastor  in  connection  with 
a  church  oi)posed  in  so  many  respects  to  the  word  of  God. 
At  this  time  his  father  changed  his  views  in  respect  to  his 
son's  course  in  hfe.     He  chose  the  law. 

Calvin,  not  yet  a  true  believer,  but  seeing  Christian  trath 
as  the  blind  men  recovering  their  sight  saw  men  as  trees  walk- 
ing, readily  acquiesced  in  this  purpose.  He  went  to  Orleans, 
where  he  studied  for  some  time  under  the  most  famous  juris- 
consult in  France,  Pierre  de  TEtoile.  Here,  as  at  Paris,  he 
advanced  with  great  rapidity  until,  in  the  occasional  absence 
of  the  professors,  he  was  selected  to  lecture  in  their  place. 
From  Orleans  he  went  to  Bourges,  pursuing  his  studies  under 
Andre  Alciat,  becoming  acquainted  with  Melchior  Wolmar, 
from  whom  he  first  learned  Greek.  Wolmar  was  himself 
imbued  with  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Keformation,  and 
contributed  not  a  little  to  his  pupil's  establishment  in  the 
faith. 

While  thus  engaged  in  the  study  of  civil  law,  Calvin  did 
not  neglect  sacred  literature.  The  Bible  became  the  subject 
of  most  intense  interest.  The  real  nature  of  Christianity 
gradually  revealed  itself  to  the  ardent  student.  He  had  been 
distinguished  for  the  severity  of  his  morals  from  early  boy- 
hood. Either  his  early  training,  or  this,  associated  with  the 
marked  predominance  of  the  intellectual  powers  over  the  sen- 
sual, enabled  him  early  to  resist  the  temptations  of  vicious 
indulgence  which  surround  a  youth  in  a  great  city.  Mean- 
while he  was  yet  a  bigoted  devotee  of  the  Church.  He  was, 
as  he  himself  confesses,  "  obstinately  fixed  in  popish  super- 
stition." He  could  look,  with  an  approving  eye,  upon  the 
terrible  auto  da  fe,  by  which  the  papacy  sought  to  purge  the 
Church  and  the  land  of  heretics.  At  length  he  begins  to 
study  the  word  of  God.  At  once  he  resigns  chaplaincy  and 
benefice.     He  turns  himself  to  the  law  as  a  refuge  and  a  path 


JOHN     CALVIN.  281 

in  which  ambition  might  win  wealth  and  favor.  At  his  ma- 
jority he  is  pronounced,  by  no  less  a  scholar  than  Scaliger,  the 
most  learned  man  in  Europe.  Still  he  had  not  yet  attained 
peace.  He  attended  to  and  trusted,  in  some  degree,  the  cere- 
monies of  Romanism  ;  yet  he  declares,  "  that  whenever  he 
descended  into  himself,  or  raised  his  heart  to  God,  such  ex- 
treme horror  surprised  him  that  neither  purifications  nor  satis- 
factions could  heal  him.  The  more  closely  he  examined  him- 
self, so  much  the  sharper  became  the  stings  of  conscience. 
To  such  a  degree  was  this  the  case,  that  neither  solace  nor 
comfort  existed  for  him,  except  in  so  far  as  he  could  deceive 
or  forget  himself."  At  length  he  is  brought  suddenly  to  rest 
in  Christ.  He  is  the  subject  of  a  rapid  conversion.  From 
that  time  the  law  ceases  to  interest  him.  The  Institutes  of 
Justinian  yield  to  the  glorious  gospel.  Stella  and  Alciat  are 
forsaken,  while  Paul,  and  John,  and  Isaiah,  and  all  the  blessed 
comjDany  of  holy  men,  who  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  are  thenceforth  his  teachers.  Immediately  he 
began  to  preach  in  the  villages  around  Bourges  the  gospel 
that  had  entered  his  heart.  The  Reformation  received  a  new 
impulse  from  his  labors.  Men  of  all  classes,  whose  minds 
were  troubled  in  respect  to  the  great  points  then  in  dispute, 
flocked  to  this  young  student  for  information,  and  gained  new 
views  of  the  precious  truths  of  Scrijiture.  The  death  of  his 
father  soon  broke  the  last  link  that  held  him  to  the  law.  He 
returned  to  Paris  and  openly  identified  himself  with  the  dis- 
graced and  persecuted  followers  of  Christ. 

We  have  now  reached  the  threshold  of  Calvin's  public  life. 
Hitherto  his  course  had  been  smooth  and  prosperous.  A  stu- 
dent from  his  earliest  years,  he  had  enjoyed  the  finest  social 
and  literary  advantages  that  France  could  afford.  It  was  not 
his  lot  to  struggle,  as  did  Luther,  against  a  depressing  pov- 
erty. He  was  born  and  educated  in  the  bosom  of  that  hap- 
pier middle  class  from  which  the  great  majority  of  the  ablest 
and  noblest  of  the  world's  benefactors  have  come.  For,  while 
here  and  there  a  man  like  Bunyan  and  Wilberforce,  repre- 
senting in  their  ori";in  the  lowest  and  the  highest  stratum  of 


282      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

society,  appears  among  the  leaders  of  the  moral  movements 
of  the  world  ;  yet  these  classes  contribute  far  less  to  these 
movements,  in  proportion  to  the  numbers  of  the  first  and  the 
privileges  of  the  second,  than  the  third  class,  lying  between 
them.  It  is  from  those  upon  whom  there  rests  neither  the 
depressing  curse  of  deep  poverty  nor  the  enervating  curse  of 
great  riches  ;  who  feel,  indeed,  the  necessity  of  useful  employ- 
ment sufficient  to  quicken  their  energies,  but  who  also  cherish 
the  independence  and  the  ambition  inspired  by  the  conscious- 
ness that  the  paths  of  affluence,  of  distinction,  or  of  healthful 
competence  open  before  them  ;  who  may  not  attain  education 
without  an  effort,  but  who,  nevertheless,  have  access,  in  some 
degree,  to  literary  privileges  at  an  early  period  ; — from  such 
persons  it  is,  in  the  main,  that  the  profoundest  thinkers  and 
the  mighty  actors  in  the  world's  history  come  forth.  The  sons 
of  destitution  and  of  affluence,  whose  names  shine  brightly  in 
the  past,  are  solitary  stars  ;  while  the  sons  of  a  healthful,  yet 
laborious  competence,  form  constellations  of  glory  in  every 
part  of  the  firmament.  It  was  this  class  that  gave  Melanc- 
thon  and  Zuinglius,  Bucer  and  Beza  to  the  Keformation — 
that  gave  Knox  and  Chalmers — Wesley  and  Whitefield — 
Edwards  and  Dwight  to  the  church  of  Christ.  It  was  thus 
happily  that  Calvin's  powers  were  early  developed.  He  was 
a  thinker  and  a  student  from  childhood  ;  all  his  early  asso- 
ciations combined  to  ripen  his  powers  for  the  great  work, 
which,  at  that  period  of  the  Reformation,  it  was  necessary 
should  be  done. 

The  change  which  took  place  in  his  father's  views  respect- 
ing his  profession,  coinciding  as  it  did  with  the  change  which 
was  secretly  going  on  in  his  own  soul,  in  regard  to  the  purity 
of  the  Romish  church,  is  a  mai-ked  event  in  its  influence  up- 
on the  future  life  of  the  Reformer.  It  led  him  to  abandon, 
the  barren  speculations  of  the  schoolmen,  and  apply  himself 
to  the  study  of  the  civil  law.  It  taught  him  to  systematize, 
to  classify,  to  combine  truth  according  to  its  nature  and  affin- 
ities. It  jirepared  him  to  grasp  the  system  of  divine  truth 
which  Grod  had  revealed  in  his  word  and  set  it  forth  in  its 


JOHN     CALVIN.  283 

naked  simplicity  for  the  apprehension  of  mankind.  It  was 
another  and  very  marked  stage  in  the  preparation  of  the  great 
Reformer  for  his  special  mission,  as  "  the  Theologian"  of  the 
Reformation. 

Calvin  was  now  twenty-three  years  old.  His  conversion, 
more  quiet  than  Luther's,  was  genuine  and  thorough.  At  the 
very  beginning  of  his  new-born  soul,  his  zeal  for  all  other 
studies  cooled,  and  he  gave  himself  up  chiefly  to  the  study  of 
the  word  of  life.  He  at  once  became  the  center  of  a  deep  and 
wide  interest — "but  a  year  had  passed  over,"  he  says,  "  when 
all  those  who  had  any  desire  for  pure  learning  came  to  me, 
inexperienced  recruit  as  I  was,  to  gain  information.  I  was 
naturally  bashful,  and  loved  leisure  and  privacy  ;  hence  I 
sought  the  obscurest  retirement  ;  but  now  every  solitary  place 
became  like  a  public  school."  His  seal  well  represented  the 
character  of  his  feelings.  It  had  engraved  on  it  a  hand  hold- 
ing a  burning  heart,  with  the  motto,  "I  give  thee  all  !  I  keep 
back  nothing  for  myself"  He  had  not  been  long  in  Paris 
before  he  abandoned  his  former  studies,  and  gave  himself 
wholly  to  the  ministry.  He  preached  with  great  power  to 
private  assemblies  of  the  faithful,  and  closed  every  sermon 
with  that  glorious  annunciation  :  "If  God  be  for  us,  who  can 
be  against  us  ?"  Amidst  his  devotion  to  his  books,  he  was 
unwearied  in  exhorting  the  multitude  of  disciples  who  filled 
the  prisons,  and  in  consoling  and  confirming  them  by  his  letters. 

It  is  of  this  man,  at  this  period  of  his  life.  Dyer  remarks, 
that  he  aspired  to  be  the  head  of  the  Reformed  party  in 
France.  This  student,  so  shy  and  bashful  that  he  had  to  be 
sought  out  by  the  faithful,  and  afterward  solicited  by  them 
to  preach  the  gosj^el,  is  charged  with  the  silly  ambition  of  de- 
siring to  be  the  chief  of  the  Lutherans  in  his  native  land. 
He  had  before  him  in  the  Roman  church,  as  he  declares  in 
his  letter  to  Sadolet,  the  brightest  prospects  of  preferment. 
In  the  law,  he  stood  already  at  the  head  of  his  profession  in 
legal  attainments,  and  saw  within  his  grasj),  affluence,  honor, 
station,  and  power.  He  rejects  them  all  the  moment  he  re- 
ceives Christ  into  his  soul;  and  though  retiring  in  his  feelings 


284    HISTOEICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

and  studious  in  his  habits,  he  yields  to  the  solicitations  of  the 
faithful,  and  enters  at  once  upon  the  service  of  the  gospel 
If  to  lose  all  for  Christ,  and  burn  with  a  self-consuming 
flame  to  see  the  religion  of  Jesus  triumioh  in  France  ;  if  to 
expose  himself  to  the  perils  of  persecution  and  death  in  the 
proclamation  of  the  gospel ;  if  to  renounce  the  fairest  earthly 
prospects,  and  receive  in  exchange  contempt  and  poverty  and 
persecution  ;  if  these  things,  and  such  as  these,  constitute  a 
just  ground  for  the  charge  of  ambition,  then  was  Calvin  am- 
bitious. 

His  first  essay  as  an  author  was  made  at  this  time  (1532). 
He  published  Seneca's  treatise,  De  dementia,  with  a  com- 
mentary of  his  own,  for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  to 
Francis  I,  the  better  way  in  which  a  wise  king  should  rule. 
Not  long  after  he  wrote  a  discourse,  full  of  evangelical  truth, 
which  Nicholas  Cop,  the  newly-elected  rector  of  the  Sor- 
bonne,  delivered  before  one  of  the  largest  and  most  intelligent 
assemblies  in  Paris,  on  one  of  the  Catholic  feast  days.  This 
awoke  anew  the  spirit  of  persecution.  Cop  escaped  to  Basle, 
and  Calvin  fled  into  the  south  of  France,  where  he  was  be- 
friended by  Margaret,  the  romantic  Queen  of  Navarre,  the 
sister  of  Francis,  and  grandmother  of  Henry  IV.  A  year 
after  he  ventured  back  to  Paris,  and,  at  the  hazard  of  his 
life,  offered  to  meet  the  heretical  senators  in  a  public  dis- 
cussion. In  the  next  year  (1534),  after  publishing  his  work 
on  the  "  Soul's  Sleep,"  he  left  France  and  went  to  Basle. 

This  was  a  period  of  distress  and  darkness  in  France  for 
the  Eeformed.  "Jacob  Lefevre,  the  instructor  and  friend  of 
Calvin,  who  prepared  the  way  for  him,  by  banishing  the 
scholastic  pliilosophy,  expounding  Scripture,  diffusing  a 
knowledge  of  languages,  and  creating  a  love  for  new  ideas," 
was  in  exile  at  Strasbourg.  Lambert,  the  Franciscan,  had 
gone  to  Wittenberg  ;  Brigonet,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  had  been 
humbled,  and  compelled  to  recant ;  Farel  and  Koussel  had 
escaped  into  Switzerland;  while  Margaret,  the  Queen  of  Na- 
varre, saw  the  bloodhounds  of  the  Sorbonne  approaching  every 
day  nearer  to  her  own  residence.     Francis  I.,  exasperated  by 


► 


JOHN     CALVIN.  285 

some  placards  against  the  mass,  affixed  to  the  doors  of  public 
buildings  in  Paris,  instituted  a  solemn  lustration.  The  image 
of  St.  Genevieve  was  carried  round  the  city  ;  while  the  king 
himself  walked  uncovered  in  the  procession,  accompanied  by 
his  three  children,  carrying  white  tapers.  No  less  than  six 
martyrs  suffered  in  the  flames  during  the  procession. 

Calvin  was  now  in  Basle.  This  city  had  already  a  uni- 
versity, founded  in  1459,  and  had  become  the  favorite  retreat 
of  learned  men.  Here  Erasmus  had  taken  up  his  abode  and 
received  the  great  and  the  learned,  who  came  hither  to  enjoy 
his  society  or  pay  him  then-  homage.  Simon  Grynasus  lec- 
tured in  the  university  on  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  old 
classic  writers  with  great  success.  Wolfgang  Capito  and 
(Ecolampadius  had  already  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Ref- 
ormation in  this  city. 

Calvin's  brief  sojourn  here  of  not  more  than  two  years, 
constitutes  an  era  in  his  history  and  in  that  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. It  was  in  this  period  he  produced  the  first  edition  of 
his  "  Institutes."  He  here  wrote  and  published  the  work, 
which  at  once  gave  him  a  name  famous  throughout  Europe, 
and  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  Reformed  church  in  France 
and  Switzerland.  Calvin  thus  accounts  for  his  writing  it  : 
"When  I  was  living  obscure  and  unknown  at  Basle,  and 
when  many  pious  men  had  been  burned  in  France,  and  their 
execution  had  inspired  the  Germans  with  deep  hatred  and 
indignation,  efforts  were  diligently  made  to  quiet  the  feelings 
thus  excited.  For  this  purpose  false  and  wicked  pamphlets 
were  circulated,  and  in  these  it  was  asserted  that  the  Ana- 
baptists only,  men  of  unquiet  spirit,  whose  fanaticism  threat- 
ened to  destroy  all  social  order,  as  well  as  religion,  had  been 
the  sufferers.  When  I  saw  this  was  a  mere  court  artifice,  in- 
vented to  conceal  the  shedding  of  the  innocent  blood  of  holy 
martyi's,  by  the  lying  pretense  that  they  who  suffered  were 
utterly  despicable  ;  and  when  I  saw  that,  if  this  were  not 
contradicted,  the  persecutors  would  continue  to  rage  and 
massacre  unchecked,  I  knew  that  my  silence,  or  my  not  op- 
posing myself  with  all  my  strength  to  their  fury,  would  be 


28G     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AXD     ESSAYS. 

treason  to  the  cause  of  righteousness.  This  was  the  occasion 
which  led  to  the  publication  of  the  '  Institutes.'  My  first 
object  was  to  free  my  brethren,  whose  death  is  precious  in  the 
sight  of  God,  from  a  shameful  slander;  my  last  was,  as  many 
more  of  our  unhappy  people  were  threatened  with  similar 
cruelties,  to  excite  at  least  some  feeling  of  pity  and  com- 
passion for  their  sufferings  in  other  nations.  I  did  not,  how- 
ever, at  that  time  produce  the  large  and  laborious  work  which 
is  now  before  the  public,  but  a  mere  sketch  of  the  design." 
Of  this  work  we  propose  to  say  something  in  another  article. 
It  is  only  necessary  here  to  remark,  that  although  this  first 
edition  was  "  but  a  mere  sketch  of  his  design,"  yet  its  success 
was  immediate  and  immense.  Five  years  before,  the  Con- 
fession of  Augsburg  had  been  published.  But,  as  yet,  noth- 
ing in  the  way  of  a  systematic  and  full  development  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Reformation  had  been  given  to  the  world. 
The  Anabaptists  at  Munster  and  the  Libertines  had  cast  sus- 
})icion  upon  the  doctrines  and  tendencies  of  the  Reformers.  It 
was  necessary  there  should  be  written  a  work  to  which  the 
persecuted  followers  of  Christ  could  appeal,  as  a  just  rep- 
resentation of  their  faith.  The  man  for  this  work  had 
now  reached  maturity.  He  had  been  trained  in  the  ablest 
academies,  by  the  ablest  teachers.  His  intellect,  originally 
sti'ong,  quick,  and  comprehensive,  had  received  all  the  devel- 
opment which  the  science  of  that  age  could  impart.  The 
man  himself  had  been  taught  spiritually  of  Grod,  and  disci- 
plined thoroughly  in  the  school  of  trial.  Immediately  this 
book  is  received  with  enthusiasm  all  over  the  Protestant  world. 
Not  merely  in  Switzerland  and  France,  but  throughout  Grer- 
many,  Holland,  and  Great  Britain,  it  is  hailed  by  the  leaders 
of  the  Elect  Host  as  most  opportune,  clear,  and  satisfactory. 
Paulus  Thurius,  a  learned  Hungarian,  well  expresses  the  feel- 
ing of  multitudes  when  he  declared  that,  "since  the  writings 
of  the  apostles,  the  ages  had  brought  forth  nothing  equal  to 
it."  ■•'■     The  Sorbonne  raged  against  it,  and  burnt  every  copy 

*  Prseter  apostolicas  post  Christi  tempora  chartaa 
Htiic  peperere  libro  sascnla  nulla  parem. 


I 


JOHN      CALVIN.  287 

they  could  in  any  way  lay  tlieir  hands  upon.  But  it  lived  in 
spite  of  them,  and  went  forth  on  its  great  mission,  establish- 
ing the  believers  in  England  and  Scotland,  as  well  as  on  the 
Continent.  Thus,  at  twenty-six  years  of  age,  had  Calvin 
taken  a  position  among  the  chief  minds  of  that  age,  and  ex- 
hibited an  intellect,  a  piety,  and  a  power  of  execution,  which 
exalted  him  to  the  side  of  Melancthon  and  Luther. 

It  is  remarkable,  as  an  instance  of  the  thoroughness  with 
which  Calvin  had  thought  out  his  opinions,  at  this  early 
period,  that  between  the  first  and  the  far  more  elaborate  last 
edition  of  this  great  work,  there  is  scarcely  any  variation  in 
the  doctrines  presented.  The  arrangement  of  the  work  is 
entirely  changed,  new  chapters  are  added,  and  the  original 
ones  enlarged,  but  the  great  system  which  he  early  grasped, 
as  that  which  expressed  the  teachings  of  the  word  of  Grod, 
remains  the  same.  Beza  says  :  "  The  doctrine  which  he  held 
at  first,  he  held  to  the  last.  He  varied  in  nothing  ;  a  thing 
which  can  be  said  of  very  few  theologians."  This,  perhaps, 
is  entirely  too  broad  an  assertion.  But,  so  far  as  it  expresses 
the  early  maturity  of  his  views  on  faith  and  Christian  disci- 
phne,  and  the  wonderful  tenacity  with  which  he  held  to  his 
opinions,  it  is  in  the  main  true. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1536,  Calvin  left  Basle  and  visited 
Kenata,  Duchess  of  Ferrara.  In  Italy  the  Eeformation  had 
commenced,  and  Ferrara  was  at  this  time  its  center.  The 
duchess,  a  daughter  of  Louis  XII.,  and  sister-in-law  of  Fran- 
cis I.,  had  become  deeply  imbued  with  the  evangelical  doc- 
trines, and  gathered  around  her  a  circle  of  kindred  spirits. 
Calvin,  however,  had  scarcely  reached  Ferrara,  before  the 
weak  husband  of  the  ducliess,  in  concert  with  the  inquisitor 
Oritz,  expelled  the  Protestants  from  her  court.  Calvin,  how- 
ever, had  time  to  become  personally  acquainted  with  her,  and 
to  lay  the.  foundation  of  that  influence  which,  by  his  corre- 
sj)ondence,  he  continued  to  exert  over  her  during  his  life. 
Renata  held  fast  to  the  cause  of  Christian  truth,  amidst  the 
temptations  of  a  court,  and  the  assaults  of  the  Papacy. 
After  the  death  of  her  husband,  she  returned  to  France,  and 


288     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

there  boldly  professed  the  Protestant  faith  until  the  day  of 
her  own  de])arture. 

Calvin  now  turned  his  steps  back  to  France.  But  here 
there  was  not  a  spot  in  which  he  could  rest  in  peace.  The 
bloodhounds  of  the  Inquisition  were  unleashed.  He  was  a 
man  of  rare  mark  ;  a  foe  the  Sorbonne  would  have  exulted 
to  clutch.  A  thousand  common  opponents  they  would  have 
desj)ised.  But  Calvin  was  a  host  himself,  whose  life  in 
France,  or  out  of  it,  was  destined  to  be  a  terror  to  the  ene- 
mies, a  quickening  spirit  to  the  friends  of  the  Eeformation. 
The  Sorbonne  and  this  man  could  not  live  together  in  the 
same  country.  This  youth  of  twenty-seven  had  in  him  ele- 
ments of  grace  and  power  sufficient  to  shake  the  hierarchy  to 
the  ground.  Who  can  doubt  what,  with  the  divine  blessing, 
would  have  been  the  result,  if  Calvin  had  found  in  Francis 
another  Frederic  of  Saxony  ?  Who  can  doub't  but  that 
France  might  have  been  saved  her  terrible  baptisms  of  blood, 
and,  in  the  first  rank  of  Protestant  nations,  have  illustrated 
a  history  glorious  for  the  noblest  forms  of  civilization  and 
Christianity  ?  But  God  had  other  lessons  to  teach  the  world 
through  France,  and  another  destiny  for  Calvin.  He  saw 
that  for  him  there  was  no  rest  on  his  native  soil  ;  he  knew 
that  to  stay  there  was  just  to  offer  himself  up  a  victim,  with- 
out reason  or  necessity,  to  the  rage  of  Beda  and  Morin.  He 
resolved  to  leave  the  land  that  thus  cast  hun  out.  "  When 
they  persecute  you  in  this  city,  flee  ye  into  another."  It  was 
not  the  fear  of  death,  but  the  desire  to  proclaim  Christ  by  his 
life,  that  impelled  him.  Hastening  to  Noyon,  he  sold  his 
paternal  estate,  and  with  his  brother  Antony  and  sister 
Maria,  bid  farewell  for  ever  to  the  place  of  his  birth.  With 
what  sadness  and  tears  did  this  noble  heart  pass  into  exile  ! 
What  pangs  of  suffering  did  it  cost  him  to  leave  the  land  of 
his  fathers  a  prey  to  the  man  of  sin  ;  her  soil  already  wet 
with  the  blood  of  Christ's  witnesses  ;  her  noblest  and  ablest 
children  thrust  from  her  side,  while  she  was  entering  upon 
that  dark  career  which,  for  three  centuries,  has  made  her  the 
reproach  of  Christendom,  her  history  the  saddest  picture  in 


JOHN     CALVIN,  289 

the  annals  of  the  world.  "  I  ara  driven,"  says  he,  in  a  hasty 
letter  to  a  friend,  "  from  the  land  of  my  birth  ;  every  step 
towards  its  boundaries  costs  me  tears.  Perhaps  it  is  not  per- 
mitted truth  to  dwell  in  France  ;  so  may  it  be  perhaps  with 
me  ;  let  her  lot  be  mine."  Take  courage,  noble  heart  !  thy 
God  is  leading  thee  into  a  city  of  refuge,  from  which  thy  voice 
shall  sound  out  not  merely  over  France,  but  the  world  ! 

It  was  Calvin's  purpose  to  retire  to  Basle,  and  then  to 
Strasbourg,  and  occupy  himself  in  general  labors  for  the 
Eeformed  churches.  But  the  war,  in  which  Germany  and 
France  were  now  engaged,  had  closed  the  road  leading 
directly  to  these  points.  He  was  compelled  to  pass  into 
Switzerland  by  a  circuitous  route,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  took  Geneva  in  his  way.  He  designed  spending  but  a  sin- 
gle night  in  this  city.  Discovered  by  Farel,  he  was  urged  to 
remain  and  preach  the  gospel  there.  Calvin  "  answered  like 
a  young  man,"  "  that  he  would  not  bind  himself  to  any  one 
church,  but  would  endeavor  to  be  useful  to  all,  wheresoever 
he  might  happen  to  be  ;  that  otherwise  no  time  would  be  left 
him  for  his  own  imjirovement ;  and  that  he  was  not  one  of 
those  who  could  afford  to  be  always  giving,  without  ever 
receiving."  Farel,  as  if  inspired,  answered  with  all  the  au- 
thority of  a  prophet,  "  Now,  I  declare  to  you,  in  the  name 
of  the  Almighty  God,  to  you  who  only  put  forth  your  studies 
as  a  pretense,  that  if  you  will  not  help  us  to  carry  on  this 
work  of  God,  the  curse  of  God  will  rest  upon  you,  for  you 
will  be  seeking  your  own  honor  rather  than  that  of  Christ." 
Farel  was  a  true  prophet,  and  Calvin  listened  to  him  as  if  he 
spake  the  words  of  God.  More  than  twenty  years  after,  he 
tells  us,  in  his  preface  to  the  Psalms,  that  this  "  threatening 
of  William  Farel  was  as  if  God  had  seized  him  by  his  awful 
hand  from  heaven,  and  compelled  him  to  renounce  his  in- 
tended journey."  Thenceforth  Calvin's  name  and  fame  were 
to  be  the  chief  glory  of  this  ancient  city.  Montesquieu  says, 
"  The  Genevese  ought  to  observe  the  day  of  his  arrival  as  a 
festival."  No  man  in  all  its  history,  glorious  as  it  is,  and 
resplendent  with  names  of  world-wide  renown,  exerted  so 

19 


290         HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

lasting  and  happy  an  influence  over  its  destiny,  or  did  so 
much  to  make  it  conspicuous  and  honorable. 

The  city,  numbering  at  this  time  not  more  than  twenty 
thousand  inhabitants,  by  its  position  and  its  history,  was  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  become  the  metropolis  of  the  Reformation. 
Situated  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Leman,  where  the 
Rhone  has  its  exodus,  with  Mount  Blanc  towering  before  it, 
and  the  clear  waters  of  the  lake  at  its  feet,  "  the  lofty  houses 
towering  above  the  walls,  and  enclosed  by  the  verdure  of  the 
glacis,"  the  city  reposes  in  queenly  beauty  amidst  the  most 
beautiful  and  sublime  scenery.  Its  history  reaches  back  to 
the  times  of  Cresar,  when  it  formed  one  of  the  strongholds  of 
the  Allobroges.  Subsequently,  destroyed  by  fire,  it  was  re- 
built during  the  reign  of  Aurelian,  and  called  by  his  name. 
The  inhabitants  embraced  Christianity  in  the  fourth  century. 
It  Avas  at  one  time  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Burgundy, 
then  attached  to  the  French  monarchy,  and  still  later  trans- 
ferred to  the  German  empire. 

The  power  of  the  emperor  in  those  days  was  exceedingly 
limited.  Struggles  arose  between  the  local  counts  and  the 
bishop,  in  which,  for  the  most  part,  the  city  sided  with  the 
latter,  and  the  surrounding  country  with  the  former,  who 
had  their  residence  in  the  mountains.  The  government  of 
the  city  had  long  been  partially  republican.  At  length  the 
struggle  assumed  a  triangular  form,  in  which  the  popular 
party,  the  bishop,  and  the  Dukes  of  Saxony  were  the  antag- 
onistic parties.  In  1.526,  by  an  alliance  with  Berne  and  Fri- 
burg,  the  Glenevese  became  strong  enough  to  resist  the  duke. 
While,  just  after  Farel's  visit  in  1532,  the  Catholic  bishop, 
having  carried  off"  a  young  girl  in  the  season  of  Lent,  was  ex- 
pelled for  ever  from  the  city. 

At  this  time  the  Reformation  had  made  giTat  progress 
in  Switzerland.  At  Zurich,  Zuingli  had  established  the 
Protestant  faith,  and  had  already  fallen  by  its  banner  in 
the  battle  of  Cappel,  in  1531.  Basle  and  Berne  had  both 
been  won  over  to  the  truth,  while  darkness  still  rested  up- 
on Geneva.     It  was  not  until  1535,  that,  under  Farel  and 


JOHN     CALVIN.  291 

Viretj  the  Reformation  obtained  a  permanent  foothold  in  the 
city. 

Just  at  this  juncture  Calvin  arrived.  The  Reformation 
had  fairly  commenced  ;  the  bishop  had  been  finally  expelled  , 
the  Duke  of  Saxony  had  been  successfully  resisted.  But  as 
yet  the  city  was  divided  into  factions,  and  in  a  state  of  po- 
litical and  religious  chaos.  He  was  received  with  immense 
enthusiasm.  Crowds  flocked  to  St.  Peter's,  the  cathedral 
church,  to  hear  him  preach.  He  was  immediately  elected 
preacher  and  teacher  of  theology, '■•■  the  latter  of  Avhich  only, 
he  at  that  time  acceiJted. 

The  situation  of  things  at  Geneva  made  Calvin's  position 
one  of  great  and  increasing  difficulty.  The  Reformation  was 
as  yet  merely  nominal.  The  people  had  thrown  off  the  form 
of  the  Papacy,  but  the  manners  and  morals,  the  ignorance  and 
unholy  passions  which  it  had  nourished,  were  still  unchanged. 
"Lively  and  excitable,  the  Genevese  citizen  had  till  recently 
indulged  in  an  almost  unbounded  license.  He  loved  dancing 
and  music,  and,  when  the  season  allowed  of  it,  enjoyed  those 
amusements  in  the  open  air.  The  doors  of  numerous  wine- 
shops lay  always  invitingly  open  ;  and  in  rainy  weather,  or 
to  those  whose  dancing  days  were  over,  offered  in  addition  to 
their  liquor,  the  stimulus  of  a  game  of  cards.  Numerous 
holidays,  besides  Sundays,  released  the  wearied  tradesman 
from  his  warehouse  or  his  shop,'  to  seek  recreation  in  the  form 
most  agreeable  to  him.  Masquerades  and  other  mummeries 
were  frequent."  The  gi'eatest  dissoluteness  of  manners  pre- 
vailed. Reckless  gaming,  drunkenness,  adultery,  blasphemy, 
and  all  sorts  of  vice  and  wickedness  abounded.  Prostitution 
was  sanctioned  by  the  authority  of  the  State,  and  the  public 
stews  were  placed  under  the  superintendence  of  a  woman 
elected  by  the  council,  and  called  the  Reine  du  hordel.  The 
registers  abound  with  entries  respecting  the  regulation  of  these 
pandemoniums.     If  the  manners  of  the  laity  were  corrupt, 


*  "  Professor  of  Sacred  Literature,"  Beza  says.     But  Henry  says,  "  Teacher 
of  Theology,"  because  there  was  yet  uo  academy. 


292       HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

those  of  the  clergy  were  as  bad,  or  worse.  The  canons  of  St. 
Peter's,  whose  office  conferred  u]3on  them  a  share  in  the  spir- 
itual government  of  the  city,  were  particularly  notorious  for 
their  misconduct.  They  paraded  their  vices  with  so  much 
eflft'ontery,  that  in  1530  the  Grenevese  refused  to  pay  them  the 
-tithes  which  were  so  unblushingly  applied  to  the  purposes  of 
debauchery  ;  and  they  were  obliged  to  solicit  the  interference 
of  Friburg,  in  order  to  obtain  their  money.  Their  ignorance 
was  on  a  par  with  their  profligacy  ;  and  during  the  progress 
of  the  Reformation,  the  Genevese  clergy  publicly  admitted 
before  the  council  that  they  were  not  learned  enough  either 
to  maintain  or  to  refute  the  doctrine  of  the  mass,  and  the  au- 
thority of  human  traditions."* 

In  this  state  of  things,  the  first  attempts  at  discipline  by 
Farel  were  displeasing  to  the  people.  Meanwhile,  however, 
Calvin  had  begun  his  great  work  with  his  accustomed  vigor 
and  decision.  The  Anabaptists  had  made  a  lodgment  in 
Geneva,  and  created  a  party  adverse  to  the  new  ministers; 
Calvin  met  them,  and  in  public  discussion  overwhelmed  them 
with  argument  and  fairly  drove  them  from  the  city.  Peter 
Caroli,  a  renegade  teacher,  sought  to  destroy  their  influence 
by  public  accusations  of  heresy.  He,  too,  was  defeated,  and 
left  the  city. 

Secretly,  however,  there  arose  a  powerful  party  of  inde- 
pendents and  libertines,  who  struggled  fiercely  against  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Reformers.  The  ministers  sought  for  a  thorough 
moral  reformation.  The  council,  in  accordance  with  their 
wishes,  forbade  many  amusements  which  tended  to  the  corrup- 
tion of  manners.  "  A  card-player  was  put  in  the  pillory,  with 
his  pack  of  cards  about  his  neck.  A  man  guilty  of  adultery 
was  sentenced  to  banishment  for  a  year,  and  jiaraded  through 
the  city  with  the  woman  who  shared  his  guilt,  by  the  com- 
mon hangman."  These  measures  awakened  bitter  opposition, 
and  a  party  was  formed  expressly  to  put  down  the  ministers. 
They  succeeded  at  length  in  arraying  the  council  against 

*Dyer,  p.  73 


JOHN     CALVIN.  293 

them,  and  in  securing  the  passage  of  resohitions  which  virtu- 
ally subjected  the  Church  to  the  State  in  matters  purely  reli- 
gious. Calvin  and  Farel  resisted,  and  took  a  decided  stand 
against  the  council.  "  They  declared  they  would  not  admin- 
ister the  sacrament  of  the  Supper  in  a  city  which  would  not 
submit  itself  to  any  kind  of  church  discipline."  They  took 
their  stand  on  two  principles  which  enter  into  and  give  char- 
acter to  Calvin's  whole  system  of  church  discipline  :  First, 
the  duty  "  of  excluding  from  the  Lord's  Supper  those  who, 
according  to  the  judgment  of  the  Church,  appear  unworthy 
of  the  privilege  ;  and  secondly,  of  not  allowing  the  Church 
to  be  subject  to  the  State  in  matters  which  concern  religion." 

Calvin  and  Farel  were  summarily  expelled  from  the  city. 
"  Let  it  be  ;  it  is  better  to  serve  God  than  man,"  was  their 
noble  answer.  Calvin  retired  to  Strasbom-g.  This  was  in 
1538.  Here  Bucer  and  Capito  labored,  and  here  Calvin  was 
persuaded  to  take  part  with  them  as  a  teacher  of  theology  in 
their  newly-established  high  schools.  He  also  gathered  in 
this  city  a  French  congregation,  and  during  his  residence  en- 
tered the  marriage  state.  He  lectured  or  preached  every  day  ; 
composed  his  celebrated  answer  to  Cardinal  Sadolet  ;  took 
part  in  several  diets  ;  extended  his  acquaintance  among  the 
Lutherans,  and  bore  a  conspicuous  part  as  a  wise  counselor 
in  most  of  the  measures  adopted  for  the  advancement  of  the 
Reformation. 

Bu^,  with  all  this  labor  and  responsibility  upon  him, 
Strasbourg  was,  in  comparison  with  G-eneva,  a  place  of  repose 
a-nd  quiet.  His  residence  here  had  a  most  decisive  influence 
on  his  after  usefulness.  The  pride  of  intellectual  power,  so 
natural  to  a  young  man,  was  humbled.  He  felt  himself 
driven  to  a  more  perfect  dependence  on  God.  Retiring  within 
himself,  he  sounded  the  depths  of  his  own  weakness  and  cor- 
ruption, and  felt  more  than  ever  the  power  and  the  precious- 
ness  of  the  redemption  of  Jesus.  This  was  his  Patmos, 
where  he  received  new  revelations  of  divine  truth.  It  was  in 
this  retirement  he  prepared  himself  for  those  energetical  labors 
which  occupied  most  of  the  remainder  of  his  life.     The  great 


294      HI8T0KICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

commentator,  whose  lucid  expositions  of  God's  word  were  to 
instruct  millions  in  after  days,  was  formed,  if  not  created,  at 
Strasbourg.  This  brief  retirement  from  the  strifes  and  fierce 
antagonism  of  Geneva,  gave  depth  to  his  piety,  expansion  to 
his  intellect,  and  enriched  his  whole  nature  with  a  new  power 
of  thought.  "When  recalled  by  the  now  humbled  and  repent- 
ant Genevese,  he  carried  back  with  him  a  richer  Christian 
experience,  a  judgment  wiser  and  more  cautious,  and  a  ca- 
pacity for  influence  greatly  increased. 

This  event  occurred  in  1541.  He  shrank  at  first  from  a 
resumption  of  his  former  charge.  His  fears  suggested  excuses 
for  not  returning.  And  when  at  last  duty  and  faith  jjrevailed, 
he  exclaims,  "  But  with  how  much  sorrow  !  with  how  many 
tears  !  with  what  anguish  !"  He  loved  his  flock  at  Geneva 
so  dearly,  xhat  to  save  them  "  he  was  ready  to  resign  life 
itself,"  yet  to  assume  again  those  fearful  ministerial  respon- 
sibilities and  enter  again  upon  the  great  work  of  renovating 
that  polluted  city,  was  a  trial  teiTible  to  his  now  humbled 
nature. 

His  return  was  a  triumph,  not  of  man,  but  of  God.  He 
would  not  go  back  alone  ;  Farel,  who  had  shared  in  his  exile, 
must  also  share  in  his  recall.  This  bold  and  heroic  Keformer 
remained  but  for  a  season.  After  a  brief  visit  he  returned  to 
his  flock  at  Neufchatel. 

Calvin  was  now  thirty-two  years  old.  His  shrinking  and 
timid  nature  had  been  strengthened  by  the  fierce  'storms 
which  had  beat  upon  him.  His  intellect  was  in  a  state  of  great 
maturity  and  fruitfulness.  His  domestic  life  had  been  set- 
tled by  a  most  happy  marriage.  His  Christian  character  had 
developed  quietly  and  nobly,  and  completed  his  preparation 
for  the  great  work  he  was  to  23erform.  His  mission  was  now 
one  of  peace  and  order  ;  the  building  up  of  the  Church  out 
of  the  chaotic  wreck  of  the  Papacy  ;  the  setting  forth  of  the 
grand  system  of  Christian  doctrine,  and  the  exposition  of  the 
living  Word. 

He  first  turned  his  attention  to  the  subject  of  discipline  ; 
while  at  Strasbourg  his  views  on  this  subject  had  been  more 


J 


JOHN      CALVIN.  295 

fully  matured,  and  the  exposition  of  them  in  his  Institutes 
prejiared.  He  first  of  all  requested  of  the  council  the  ap- 
pointment of  representatives,  who  should  act  with  the  pastor 
in  the  administration  of  discij^line.  This  constitutes  one  of 
the  chief  principles  of  that  pure  Presbyterianism  which  he 
sought  to  reestablish,  according  to  the  original  constitution 
of  the  primitive  Church.  In  connection  with  the  parity  of 
the  clergy,  it  formed  a  direct  contrast  to  the  practice  of  the 
Roman  church.  It  gave  to  the  Church  itself  the  power  of 
discipline  in  the  most  efficient  form.  He  made  those  lay 
elders  subject  to  an  .annual  election,  and  ordained  that  they 
should  always  outnumber  the  pastors.  The  clergy  were 
stripped  at  once  of  that  power  which  had  rendered  them,  at 
times,  the  most  formidable  opponents  of  spiritual  freedom. 
A  court  was  constituted  by  the  people  themselves,  the  most 
efficient  of  all  bodies  for  the  administration  of  church  govern- 
ment. Much  of  Calvin's  success,  in  the  restoration  of  order, 
and  the  constitution  of  a  pure  church,  amidst  the  abounding 
licentiousness  and  rebellious  elements  still  joowerful  at  Ge- 
neva, is  due  to  his  system  of  church  discipline.  He  put  the 
burden  of  its  administration  off  from  himself  and  his  col- 
leagues upon  the  consistoiy,  in  which  the  laymen  were  double 
the  clergy.  He  placed  between  the  pastors  and  the  shafts  of 
the  evil-minded  and  the  profligate,  a  body  of  wise  and  effi- 
cient laymen.  He  secured  wiser  and  more  thorough  action, 
by  enlisting  in  the  work  men  moving  among  the  people,  and 
conversant  with  all  their  prejudices,  feelings  and  opinions. 
This  system,  which  for  its  simplicity,  efficiency  and  freedom, 
commended  itself  at  once,  soon  spread  through  all  the  Re- 
formed churches  in  Switzerland,  France  and  Holland,  entered 
England,  and  became  dominant  in  Scotland. 

It  is  just  at  this  point  the  Lutheran  church  had  failed. 
Justification  by  faith  was  then  the  gi-and  doctrine  which  Lu- 
ther made  the  article  of  a  standint^  or  a  falling;  cliurch.  But 
the  church  that  fails  in  discipline,  that  flings  open  the  sac- 
rament to  all  comers,  that  lays  aside  the  true  authority  of  the 
keys,  may  have  a  creed  the  mosc  orthodox,  and  catecliism  the 


296         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

most  aclmiraLle,  as  expositions  of  Christian  doctrine,  yet  will 
she  utterly  lose  her  purity,  and  become  a  degenerate  mass  of 
formality  and  corruption.  It  is  in  this  point  of  view  that  the 
Protestant  world  owe  to  Calvin  a  debt  of  gratitude,  for  the 
restoration  of  discipline  to  the  Christian  Church,  not  at  all 
inferior  to  that  which  belongs  to  the  mighty  and  heroic  Re- 
former who  reestablished  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  lifted  up  on  high  the  truth  of  salvation  solely  by 
the  blood  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  this  little  republic 
of  Geneva,  did  this  man,  all  unconscious  of  the  vast  results 
he  was  working  out,  introduce  the  idea,  the  form  and  the  most 
eJEficient  machine  of  church  discipline.  He  drew  lines  of  cir- 
cumvallation  around  the  Lord's  table,  and  guarded  the  ap- 
proach to  it  with  a  jealous  eye. 

The  defect  of  his  arrangement  consisted  in  committing  to 
the  State  the  power  of  electing  the  consistory.  His  beau- 
ideal  of  a  State  was  that  of  a  theocracy,  in  which  the  civil 
and  the  religious  departments  acted  as  checks  upon  each 
other,  while  both  acknowledged  the  same  ultimate  authority, 
and  followed  the  same  general  rule.  This  connection  of 
Church  and  State  was  common  to  the  Protestantism  of  that 
age.  It  was  the  TrpoWov  ipevdog  of  the  Reformation.  It  has 
been  the  source  of  evils  manifold,  in  both  Church  and  State. 
The  union  never  has  existed  long  without  bringing  forth 
evil.  Geneva  itself,  in  these  latter  days,  is  a  witness  to  this 
truth. 

But  with  this  exception — which  indeed  for  a  time  rather 
aided  the  evangelical  religion — the  system  of  Presbytery,  as 
worked  by  Calvin,  had  a  most  happy  influence  in  reducing 
the  chaotic  mass  to  order,  and  in  establishing  a  well-ordered 
Christian  society.  John  Knox,  who  spent  two  years  here 
during  the  reign  of  bloody  Mary,  thus  writes  in  1547  :  "  In 
my  heart  I  could  have  wished  it  might  please  God  to  guide 
and  conduct  yourself  to  this  place,  Avhere,  I  neither  fear  nor 
shame  to  say,  is  the  most  -perfect  school  of  Christ  that  ever 
loas  in  the  earth  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  In  other 
places  I  confess  Christ  to  be  truly  preached,  but  manners  and 


JOHN     CALVIN.  297 

religion,  or  sinners  reformed,  I  have  not  yet  seen  in  any  other 
place  beside."*  In  1685,  more  than  one  hundred  years  after 
Calvin's  death.  Bishop  Burnet  visited  Geneva.  His  eulogy  of 
this  little  State  is  too  long  for  us  to  quote.  He  says  that 
Geneva  has  so  many  good  constitutions  in  it  that  the  great- 
est may  justly  learn  of  it.  He  praises  their  good  works,  their 
justice  and  good  faith,  the  exalted  character  of  their  minis- 
ters, the  extent  to  which  learning  was  diffused  among  all 
classes  of  citizens,  their  public  morality  and  general  civility. 
Let  these  encomiums  on  Geneva  be  compared  with  the  de- 
scription given  of  its  state  and  manners  under  the  Papacy, 
and  the  contrast  is  a  glorious  vindication  of  the  efficacy  of 
Calvin's  influence,  and  the  working  of  his  system. 

Within  the  limits  assigned  to  us  it  will  not  be  possible  to 
describe  minutely  the  phases  of  Calvin's  life  and  work  during 
the  twenty-eight  years  that  he  labored  at  Geneva.  He  estab- 
lished the  academy  in  which  Beza  and  Turretin  afterwards 
lectured,  and  which  for  a  long  period  furnished  preachers  and 
pastors  for  the  Reformed  churches. 

His  "  Institutes"  he  elaborated  in  successive  editions  until 
it  assumed  its  present  comjileteness.  He  labored  with  ex- 
traordinary diligence  at  his  Commentaries  until  the  close  of 
life.  He  wrote  in  defense  of  the  Reformed  doctrines,  and,  for 
the  encouragement  of  the  faithful,  tracts  which  would  fill 
volumes.  The  churches  of  Reformed  faith  everywhere  in 
Europe  looked  up  to  him  for  advice  and  assistance.  He  was 
poor,  and  rejoiced  in  his  poverty,  while  he  made  many  rich. 
The  great  theologian  and  reformer,  whose  mind  has  impressed 
itself  deeply  uj^on  the  whole  Protestant  church,  lived  in  an 
obscure  house,  and  on  a  salary  that  was  barely  sufficient  to 
supply  the  usual  necessaries  of  life.  "  His  pay  consisted  of 
fifty  dollars,  twelve  measures  of  corn,  two  tuns  of  wine,  and 
a  dwelling  house."  To  this  some  additions  were  made  after- 
wards. 

After  his  return,  "he  preached  every  day  during  each 

*  Letters,  p.  377. 


298         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

alternate  week  ;  thrice  a  week  he  gave  lectures  in  theology  ; 
presided  in  the-  consistory  on  Thursday  ;  and  every  Friday, 
at  the  meetings  for  scriptural  discussion  held  in  St.  Peter's 
church,  delivered  almost  a  complete  lecture.  When  it  was 
not  his  week  to  preach,  he  had  his  works  brought  to  him  in 
bed  at  five  or  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  dictated  to  an 
amanuensis."* 

Florimond  de  Raimond,  the  Catholic,  says  of  him : 
"With  a  body  dry  and  attenuated,  he  had  a  mind  ever 
grave  and  vigorous  ;  ready  for  service,  always  prepared  for 
attacks.  He  fasted  greatly  in  his  youth  ;  never  seeking  so- 
ciety, but  always  retired,  Calvin  had  hardly  an  equal.  He 
was  so  assiduous  in  completing  his  '  Institutes'  that  he 
passed  whole  nights  without  sleeping,  and  days  without 
eating."f 

In  the  university  he  had,  while  yet  a  youth,  by  severe 
study  without  exercise,  laid  the  foundation  for  various  dis- 
eases that  troubled  him  through  life,  and  brought  him  pre- 
maturely to  the  grave.  But  so  intense  was  his  enthusiasm, 
so  earnest  his  spirit,  so  entirely  did  he  give  himself  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  that  few  men  have  ever  lived  who  in 
the  same  time  have  accomplished  so  much  for  the  Church  of 
Christ. 

If  we  view  Calvin  as  a  writer,  we  see  a  master  forging 
the  links  of  thought  and  giving  them  a  form  admirable  for 
strength,  clearness  and  beauty.  His  Latin  is  Ciceronian  in 
its  purity  and  its  vigor.  He  gave  to  his  native  tongue  an 
elegance  and  a  force  which  contributed  essentially  to  its  pres- 
ent purity.  It  has  been  objected  that  he  indulged  in  invective. 
But  this  was  the  manner  of  his  time.  Personalities  were  in- 
terwoven with  purely  doctrinal  discussion.  Erasmus,  the  most 
elegant  writer  of  his  age,  uses  language  that  would  scarcely 
be  tolerated  now.  Melancthon,  with  his  mild  and  womanly 
nature,  was  more  than  most  men  of  that  day  free  from  this 
excess.     But  how  many  Melancthons  would  it  have  taken  to 

*  Dyer,  p.  113.  f   Henry. 


JOHN     CALVIN.  299 

have  wrought  out  the  Reformation  ?  Zuingli,  the  ardent ; 
Farel,  the  impetuous  ;  Q^colampadius,  the  jjatriot ;  Vhet,  the 
winning  and  gentle  ;  Bullinger,  Beza  and  Bucer,  all  indulge  in 
the  same  style  of  discourse.  Luther  himself  exceeded  the  rest 
in  the  abusive  epithets  he  heaped  upon  his  adversaries.  There 
is  a  fashion  in  writing  and  in  controversy,  as  well  as  in  the  cut 
of  a  man's  clothes.  And  it  is  saying  but  little  for  us  that  in 
the  progress  of  three  centuries,  amidst  the  refinements  of  peace 
and  the  quiet  possession  of  the  gospel,  we  have  attained  a  po- 
lite style  of  literary  warfare,  and  have  learned  how  to  assail 
error  and  errorists  with  gloved  hands. 

Of  Calvin's  married  life  we  know  little.  His  wife,  Julette 
De  Bures,  was,  according  to  Beza,  "a  worthy,  noble,  well-read 
person,"  a  fit  companion  for  the  Reformer  amidst  the  stormy 
period  in  which  he  lived.  The  notices  which  he  has  left  of  her 
are  always  pleasing.  He  calls  her  "  singularis  exempli  fcEra- 
ina."  Soon  after  the  death  of  his  infant  son,  the  only  child 
he  ever  had,  he  writes  to  Viret :  "  Greet  all  the  brethren,  and 
also  your  aunt  and  wife,  to  whom  my  wife  sends  her  best 
thanks  for  the  friendly  and  holy  consolation  which  they  have 
rendered  her.  She  could  only  write  by  means  of  another,  and 
even  to  dictate  a  letter  would  be  painful  to  her.  The  Lord 
has  indeed  inflicted  a  grievous  wound  upon  us  by  the  loss  of 
our  httle  sou,  and  we  feel  it  bitterly.  But  he  is  a  Father  and 
knows  what  is  necessary  for  his  children."  This  happy  union 
lasted  for  nine  years.  She  died  in  1549.  Then  he  unbosomed 
his  heart  to  Viret  in  a  long  epistle,  in  which  he  gives  an  ac- 
count of  her  triumphant  death.  His  agony  for  a  time  was 
almost  insupportable.  Even  after  seven  years  had  gone  by, 
he  recurs  to  his  loss  with  the  deej^est  emotion.  The  childless 
and  widowed  man  ceased  to  look  to  this  world  for  consolation. 
He  looked  forward  with  hope  to  the  better  world,  and  antici- 
pates a  reunion  there  with  the  loved  and  lost. 

His  heart  was  formed  for  friendship,  and  his  friends  clung 
to  him  with  passionate  affection.  Farel,  Viret,  Melancthon 
were  very  dear  to  him.  Of  Melancthon,  after  his  decease,  he 
thus  writes  : — "  0  Philip  Melancthon,  to  thee  I  address  my- 


300     HISTOKICAL    DISCOUESES    AND    ESSAYS. 

self,  to  thee  who  art  now  living  in  the  presence  of  God  with 
Jesus  Christ,  and  there  awaitest  us,  till  death  shall  unite  us 
in  the  enjojnnent  of  that  divine  peace.  A  hundred  times  hast 
thou  said  to  me,  when,  weary  with  so  much  labor,  and  op- 
pressed with  so  many  burdens,  thou  laidst  thy  head  upon  my 
heart,  '  God  grant  that  I  may  now  die  !'  But  I,  on  my  side, 
have  also  a  thousand  times  wished  that  we  had  the  happiness 
to  live  together." 

With  Farel  and  Viret  he  maintained,  from  the  first  hour  of 
his  acquaintance,  an  unbroken  friendship  and  intimacy  rarely 
surpassed.  In  mental  characteristics  they  diifered  widely 
"Farel  excelled  in  a  certain  sublimity  of  mind,  so  that 
nobody  could  either  hear  his  thunders  without  trembling,  or 
listen  to  his  most  fervent  prayers  without  feeling  almost  as  it 
were  carried  up  to  heaven,  Viret  possessed  such  winning  elo- 
quence, that  his  entranced  audience  hung  upon  his  lips.  Cal- 
vin never  spoke  without  filling  the  mind  of  the  hearer  with 
most  weighty  sentiment."*  They  were  both  his  seniors, 
Farel  indeed  by  some  twenty-five  years.  Associated  together 
either  at  Geneva  as  co-pastors,  or  when  occupying  diflerent 
fields,  as  co-laborers  in  the  same  great  Keformation,  their 
union  and  affection  continued  till  the  close  of  Calvin's  life. 
He  thought  that  he  perceived  in  them  qualities  superior  to 
those  which  he  himself  possessed.  Farel's  boldness,  decision, 
and  martyr-sj^irit  called  forth  his  wonder  and  admiration.  To 
him  and  Viret  he  unbosomed  his  whole  heart.  His  letters  are 
as  remarkable  for  their  transparent  simplicity,  as  for  their 
trusting  confidence.  Beza,  who  wrote  his  life,  and  who,  Dr. 
Henry  thinks,  "  surpassed  him  in  learning  and  eloquence," 
was  his  associate  in  the  new  academy  at  Geneva,  and  had 
every  o2:)portunity  of  studying  his  character.  He  not  only 
admired  the  greatness  of  Calvin,  but  loved  him  ardently  as  a 
friend.  John  Von  Spina,  after  his  conversion,  had  an  inter- 
view with  the  Reformer.  Shortly  after  he  thus  pours  out  his 
heart :  "  Mine  eyes  were  fixed  upon  your  countenance  as  long 
as  my  companions  would  allow.     Their  society  now  became 

*  Beza. 


JOHN      CALVIN.  301 

bitter  and  intolerable  to  me.     I  was  still  far  from  satisfied. 
In  the  interview  which  you  gi-anted  me,  short  as  it  was,  yon 
had  inspired  me,  by  that  mysterions  power  which  seemed  to 
breathe  in  your  discourse  and  words,  with  a  veneration  whicli 
could  not  be  surpassed.     I  am  troubled,  from  hour  to  hour, 
with  that  desire  to  see  you  again  which  arose  in  my  mind  as 
you  bade  me  farewell.     And  I  hope  my  soul  will  not  rest,  till 
the  Lord  has  united  me  to  you  in  the  bonds  of  eternal  friend- 
ship."    "They  praised,"  and  loved  him  most,  "who  knew 
him  best."     His  house  was  thronged  with  visitors  from  all 
parts  of  the  Protestant  world,  eager  to  enjoy  his  friendship 
and  listen  to  his  counsels.     Knox,  and  the  translators  of  the 
"Geneva  Bible,"  and   scores   of   Puritan   reformers,   when 
driven  from  England  by  the  persecution  of  bloody  Mary, 
found  a  home  at  Geneva  under  the  protection  of  Calvin. 
Thousands  of  French  refugees,  hastening  away  from  the  ter- 
ror and  the  sword  that  overtook  the  Protestants  in  their  na- 
tive land,  were  received  at  Geneva  with  open  arms.     Calvin 
ministered  to  their  wants,  and  stood  between  them  and  the 
jealous  hostility  of  the  council.     He  maintained  a  wide  and 
varied  correspondence,  both  of  business  and  friendshij:),  with 
the  pious  on  the  Continent  and  in  Great  Britain.     Deprived 
of  children,  widowed  in  maniage,  he  gave  to  his  friends  and 
the  Church  of  Christ,  the  warm  affections  which  others  lavish 
on  their  kindred.     Few  men  have  ever  lived  who  loved  more 
ardently,  or  inspired  in  turn  a  more  intense  affection.     If  his 
striking  and  bold  characteristics  created  the  deepest  hatred  in 
those  who  loved  not  his  cause  or  the  pure  truth  of  God,  they 
were  so  pervaded  by  a  noble  and  generous  nature  as  to  create 
an  equally  enthusiastic  affection  on  the  jiart  of  those  who  had 
embraced  the  truth.    He  was  not  merely  admired  by  his  friends 
for  the  grand  and  solid  qualities  of  his  intellect.     Beneath  all 
these,  and  surrounding  them,  were  tender  and  kind  affections 
that  won  the  hearts  of  those  who  had  access  to  his  society, 
and  sympathized  with  the  great  truths  it  was  his  mission  to 
establish.     To  distant  spectators,  who  saw  only  his  massive 
intellect  in  his  profound  and  boldly  developed  system  of  faith, 


302      HISTOKICAL    DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

he  appeared  like  that  Mount  Blanc,  whose  glittering  sum- 
mits, rugged,  and  cold,  and  lofty,  create  in  the  mind  of  the 
beholder  the  emotion  of  awe  and  the  feeling  of  the  sublime. 
But  to  those  who  ajiproached  nearer  and  witnessed  his  sim- 
plicity, his  benevolence,  his  single-hearted  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  Jesus,  his  appreciation  of  Christian  excellence  and 
all  noble  qualities  in  those  associated  with  him,  his  profound 
humility,  his  love  of  truth,  his  forbearance  towards  those 
whom  he  regarded  as  not  willfully  in  eiTor,  his  kindness  of 
spirit  toward  those  who  sought  him  for  counsel  and  comfort, 
the  feeling  of  awe  became  blended  with  softer  and  warmer 
emotions,  and  the  majesty  of  the  sublime  mount  associated 
with  itself  the  vineyards,  gardens,  and  flowers  that  flourished 
and  bloomed  in  its  lovely  valleys,  and  spread  the  attractions 
of  Eden  around  its  base, 

Calvin  was  not  naturally  a  man  of  war.  Unlike  Farel, 
whose  bold  and  impetuous  spirit  seemed  to  be  most  at  home 
amidst  the  tumult  of  contending  forces,  he  rather  shrank 
from  controversy,  and  was  only  driven  to  it  by  a  stern  sense 
of  duty.  The  confusion  and  the  strife  in  which  his  first  resi- 
dence in  Geneva  involved  him,  inspired  him  with  an  almost 
invincible  repugnance  to  undertaking  the  pastoral  office  again 
in  that  city.  He  found  in  Strasbourg  a  congenial  rej^ose  ;  a 
harbor  from  which  he  dreaded  again  to  sail  forth  upon  the 
tempest-tossed  ocean.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this  love  of  retire- 
ment, he  was  driven  by  the  force  of  duty  to  engage  in  con- 
troversies with  the  opponents  and  the  friends  of  the  Refor- 
mation, to  as  great  an  extent  as  any  man  of  that  age.  The 
mighty  movement  which  gave  the  Bible  to  the  people,  burst 
the  fetters  in  which  mind  had  been  so  long  chained,  and 
brought  men  forth  from  the  dungeon  into  the  light  of  day. 
Dazzled  often,  rather  than  enlightened,  multitudes  embraced 
the  most  outrageous  errors,  and  sought  a  license  for  base  pas- 
sions in  the  yet  unregulated  freedom  of  opinion.  It  was  the 
home  for  the  mad  revelry  of  error.  The  Reformation,  identi- 
fied by  its  foes  with  this  malignant  brood  of  heresies,  de- 
manded of  its  leaders  the  fullest  vindication. 


JOHN     CALVIN,  303 

Meanwhile,  among  the  Eeformers  themselves,  there  had 
sprung  up  a  controversy  on  points  not  at  all  vital  to  the 
great  system  they  mutually  held,  which  not  only  threatened 
disaster,  but  which  ultimately  set  back  the  Reformation  three 
hundred  years.  Calvin,  as  the  foremost  man  in  the  Reformed 
church,  was  compelled  to  appear  frequently  in  defense  of  the 
truth.  Few  men  have  ever  lived  who  saw  the  truth  more 
clearly,  or  loved  it  more  intensely.  He  could  not  bear  to  see 
it-  trodden  in  the  mire.  He  could  not  bear  patiently  with 
those  malignants  whose  aim  it  was  to  cast  down  the  gospel, 
and  on  its  ruins  rear  a  temple  within  which  the  pride  and  lust 
of  man  might  worship.  He  expressed  his  abhorrence  in  terms 
vehement  and  almost  fierce.  He  handles  these  despisers  of 
the  truth  as  ruffians  and  outlaws  from  the  realm  of  charity. 
He  crushes  them  with  his  ponderous  logic,  and  then  heaps 
upon  them  the  most  tremendous  invective.  He  treats  the 
enemies  of  the  truth  as  the  enemies  of  God,  and  brands  their 
errors,  in  the  sight  of  all  men,  as  the  products  of  the  pit, 

But  in  respect  to  all  the  many  personal  assaults  against 
himself,  and  in  regard  to  the  difficulties  which  separated  the 
Reformers  themselves,  his  manner  is  greatlj^  different.  He 
comprehends  at  once  the  distinction  between  the  substantial 
and  the  non-essential.  He  deprecates  divisions,  and  is  ever 
ready  to  surrender  matters  indifferent.  Of  all  his  colleagues, 
at  the  time  of  his  banishment  from  Geneva,  he  evinced  the 
greatest  liberality  in  the  tolerance  of  those  things  which  did 
not  affect  the  essentials  of  Christian  faith  and  discipline. 
Schism  and  secession  in  Christ's  church,  he  regarded  as 
crimes  of  no  ordinary  magnitude.  He  labored  for  peace.  In 
Ihe  great  controversy,  "  De  Ci^na,"  which  divided  the  Re- 
formed and  Lutheran  churches,  and  exerted  so  disastrous  an 
influence  upon  the  cause  of  true  religion,  he  labored  with  all 
the  strength  of  his  great  intellect  and  earnest  soul  to  harmo- 
nize the  parties  on  a  common  platform.  His  letter  to  Luther 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  exhibitions  of  child-like  venera- 
tion and  tenderness,  which  one  so  gifted,  so  admired  himself, 
manifests  towards  one  who  might  be  supposed  to  be  his  rival 


304      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

and  opponent,  to  be  found  in  all  history.  Nothing  gave  him 
deeper  pain,  or  wounded  more  severely  his  sensitive  heart, 
than  the  polemic  zeal  of  those  who  sought  to  set  these 
churches  at  variance. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  controversy,  in  15G0,  that 
Melancthon,  who  on  this  as  on  most  other  points  of  doctrine 
agreed  substantially  with  Calvin,  died.  "  Wearied  with  labor, 
oppressed  with  many  cares,"  the  mild  and  gentle  Christian, 
the  learned  scholar  and  profound  theologian,  went  to  his  rest. 
He  left  Calvin  alone  in  the  field,  to  struggle  for  peace  and 
harmony  until  the  last.     His  end  was  not  far  oif. 

Without  dwelling  here  on  that  event,  which,  more  than 
any  other,  has  been  used  by  Calvin's  enemies  to  blacken  his 
fair  fame — the  burning  of  Servetus — and  reserving  the  re- 
marks we  have  to  make  in  vindication  of  his  character  from 
the  aspersions  which  even  Protestants  have  cast  upon  it,  for 
another  article,  we  hasten  to  the  close. 

He  had  labored  after  his  return  to  Geneva  for  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  in  the  unselfish  and  noble  work  of  build- 
ing up  the  kingdom  of  God,  there  and  abroad.  He  had  met 
with  obstinate  and  violent  opposition  for  years,  in  Geneva 
itself  But  at  length  his  sagacity,  his  courage,  his  simple 
piety,  his  caution,  and  his  zeal,  won  the  victory.  His  system 
of  discipline  became  firmly  established  and  thoroughly  inter- 
woven with  the  republican  constitution  of  the  little  State. 

He  had  engaged,  even  to  the  last,  in  controversy  with 
false  friends  in  the  Church  and  enemies  without.  But  each 
year  the  circle  of  his  influence  widened,  and  the  power  of  it 
deepened.  He  became  the  center  towards  which  thousands 
turned  their  eyes  in  aftection  and  confidence.  He  corre- 
sponded with  princes  and  j^easants,  and  cheered  on  the  mar- 
tyrs amidst  their  anticipated  baptism  of  fire.  He  labored  to 
build  up  a  church  at  Geneva,  as  if  that  were  his  only  work. 
He  gave  himself  to  the  writing  of  commentaries  and  the  in- 
struction of  students  in  theology,  as  if  that  were  his  great 
business.  He  wrote  in  illustration  and  defense  of  the  Refor- 
mation, as  if  that  alone  were  his  chief  task.    He  corresponded 


JOHN     CALVIN.  305 

with  multitudes  abroad,  and  counseled  crowds  who  sought 
him  at  home,  as  if  that  were  the  grand  duty  of  his  life.  His 
love  of  truth,  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  Saviour,  wrought  in 
him  a  courage  most  heroic,  a  zeal  the  most  consuming,  and 
impelled  to  labors  which  seem  to  us,  at  this  day,  almost 
superhuman. 

As  life  drew  towards  its  close,  "  that  child-like  trust  in 
God,  and  invincible  faith  in  prayer,"  for  which  he  had  all 
along  been  remarkable,  revealed  themselves  still  more  fully. 
"  He  became  remarkably  soft  and  gentle  ;  he  strove  to  offend 
no  one,  and  exhibited  an  unfailing  hope  in  a  better  life,  which 
he  expressed  in  short,  soul-felt  prayers."  Unlike  Luther,  he 
never  sank  into  such  depths  of  darkness,  and  never  rose  to 
such  heights  of  impassioned  joy.  His  temperament  was 
calmer ;  his  spirit  more  habitually  serene.  Sickness  and 
wasting  study,  and  life's  sea  of  trouble,  had  combined  to  ex- 
haust the  energies  of  his  body  ;  but  his  soul  seemed  to  burn 
with  a  holier  flame,  and  be  instinct  with  a  celestial  vitality. 
To  the  last  he  studied  the  Scriptures,  and  dictated  his 
thoughts  upon  them.  Amidst  the  severest  sufferings,  when 
his  brethren  besought  him  to  suspend  these  labors,  at  least 
during  his  sickness,  he  mildly  answered,  "  Would  you  that 
the  Lord  should  find  me  idle  when  he  comes  ?" 

Early  in  1564,  it  became  evident  that  this  precious  soul 
was  soon  to  leave  the  world,  "  On  the  2d  of  April,"  says 
Beza,  "  it  being  Easter  day,  he  was  canied  to  church  in  a 
chair.  He  remained  during  the  whole  sermon,  and  received 
the  sacrament  from  my  hand.  He  even  joined  the  congrega- 
tion, though  with  a  trembling  voice,  in  the  last  hymn,  '  Lord, 
let  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,'  and  looking  at  the  counte- 
nance of  the  departing  one,  easily  might  we  discover  the  signs 
of  Christian  joyfulness." 

On  the  25th  of  the  same  month,  he  made  his  will,  in 
which,  after  giving  thanks  to  God  for  his  conversion,  and  tes- 
tifying his  belief  in  the  gospel,  and  praying  that  he  "  may  be 
so  purified  and  washed  by  the  blood  of  the  great  Kedeemer, 
shed  for  the  sins  of  mankind,  that  he  might  be  able  to  stand 

20 


306      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS, 

before  his  judgment  seat,  and  bear  his  image  on  him,"  he  dis- 
poses of  his  estate,  amounting  altogether  to  less  than  three 
hundred  dollars. 

On  the  30th,  he  had  a  final  interview  with  the  four  syn- 
dics and  the  members  of  the  council.  They  went  in  solemn 
procession  from  the  council  chambers  to  his  house,  where  he 
gave  them  a  solemn  address,  full  of  instructions  and  grateful 
recollections  of  the  goodness  of  God  to  him  and  to  them. 
Few  scenes  in  this  world's  history  are  more  deeply  instructing 
and  tender  than  this  last  inter\dew  of  Calvin  with  the  govern- 
ment of  the  city  in  which  he  labored  so  long,  and  with  such 
manifest  tokens  of  the  divine  blessing.  After  his  address  he 
prayed  for  them,  and  "then  offered  his  right  hand  to  all  pres- 
ent, and  left  them  deeply  affected  and  shedding  floods  of  tears, 
as  if  taking  their  last  leave  of  a  father." 

On  the  28th  of  April,  two  days  previous,  he  had  addressed 
all  the  ministers  of  the  Genevese  territory  assembled  at  his 
house.  He  spoke  to  them  of  his  affection  for  them  ;  recounts 
the  success  the  Lord  had  granted  his  cause  in  that  region,  and 
bid  them  farewell.  "We  went  from  him,"  says  Beza,  "with 
very  heavy  hearts  and  wet  eyes." 

Early  in  May,  having  learnt  that  Farel  designed  to  visit 
him  ere  he  departed,  he  wrote  to  him  in  Latin  :  "Farewell, 
my  best  and  most  faithful  brother  ;  since  it  is  God's  will  that 
you  should  survive  me,  live  in  the  constant  recollection  of  our 
union,  which,  in  so  far  as  it  was  useful  to  the  Church  of  God, 
will  still  bear  for  us  abiding  fruit  in  heaven.  I  wish  you  not 
to  fatigue  yourself  on  my  account.  My  breath  is  veak,  and 
I  continually  expect  it  to  leave  mC;  It  is  enough  for  me  that 
I  live  and  die  in  Christ,  who  is  gain  to  his  people  both  in  life 
and  in  death.  Once  more  farewell  with  the  brethren.  Ge- 
neva, May  2d,  1564."  Farel,  now  seventy-five  years  old  and 
feeble,  came  nevertheless  to  bid  him  personally  farewell,  and 
then  returned  to  Neufchatel,  where  he  shortly  afterwards  de- 
parted to  his  rest. 

His  sufferings  were  extreme,  but  his  soul  was  all  peace. 
In  his  agony  he  exclaimed  in  the  words  of  David,  "  Lord,  I 


JOHN     CALVIN.  307 

Opened  not  my  mouth,  for  it  was  thy  doing."  "  Thou  dost 
sorely  afflict  me,  0  Lord,  but  it  is  consolation  enough  for  me, 
and  I  suffer  it  willingly,  since  it  is  thine  hand,"  Multitudes 
thronged  to  see  him  and  express  their  sympathy.  He  de- 
sired them  to  be  told  "  that  he  would  rather  have  his  friends 
pray  for  him,  than  afflict  themselves  with  the  sight  of  his 
sufferings." 

At  length  the  time  of  his  departure  had  come.  It  was  on 
the  evening  of  the  27th  of  May,  when  the  sun,  descending  in 
the  west,  still  lingered  on  the  glorious  summit  of  Mount 
Blanc,  while  the  twilight  in  its  stillness  rested  upon  city  and 
lake,  and  the  surrounding  country,  that  this  man  of  God  left 
the  world.  The  event,  though  long  expected,  tilled  the  city 
with  mourning.  The  State  and  Church  wept  together.  The 
inhabitants  crowded  to  gaze  upon  his  emaciated  countenance 
and  lingered  long  in  tears  by  his  cold  remains.  Without 
pomp  or  parade  he  was  conveyed  to  his  grava  No  stone 
marks  the  spot  where  sleeps  the  dust  of  one  of  the  greatest  of 
men  and  most  noble  of  confessors.  He  wished  to  illustrate  in 
death  the  simplicity  and  humility  he  inculcated  in  life.  The 
tears  of  a  bereaved  people  were  his  eulogy  ;  his  works  his 
monument ;  and  the  thousands  he  guided  to  Christ  and  con- 
firmed in  the  faith,  his  crown  of  rejoicing  on  high. 


We  now  purpose  to  enter  more  fully  into  an  enumera- 
tion of  the  sources  of  that  power  which  has  given  Calvin  a 
name,  not  only  among  the  great,  but  the  greatest  men  of  the 
past.  That  he  has  gained  a  name  among  the  most  illustrious 
in  the  annals  of  the  world,  and  that  it  is  but  the  expression 
of  a  character  the  most  remarkable,  and  an  influence  the 
most  profound  and  wide-spread,  both  friends  and  foes  are 
compelled  to  afflrm. 

The  Church  of  the  Reformed,  in  France,  in  Holland  and 
Switzerland,  just  so  far  as  they  retain  the  spirit  of  the  gospel, 


i 


308         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

recognize  in  him  the  master-mind  that,  through  three  cen- 
turies, has  wrought  among  them  with  unequaled  power.  His 
influence  lives  in  the  Scotch  and  Irish  churches  with  increas- 
ing vigor.  It  has,  from  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  assisted, 
with  varying  success,  in  vivifying  the  elements  of  good  in  the 
heart  of  the  English  church.'-'  The  great  majority  of  the 
evangelical  clergy  of  England  have  sympathized  with  his  doc- 
trinal views.  His  works,  translated  into  their  language  to  a 
greater  extent  than  those  of  any  other  continental  writer, 
have  found  a  home  in  every  well-furnished  library,  and,  in 
parts,  have  been  circulated  widely  among  the  people.  The 
religious  revival  which,  under  Whitefield  and  Wesley,  consti- 
tuted an  era  in  the  religious  history  of  England,  while  under 
Wesley  and  Methodism  it  took  the  form  of  opposition  to  Cal- 
vinism, yet  under  Whitefield  it  recognized  that  system  as  the 
truth,  and  constituted,  in  connection  with  it,  the  leaven  which 
has  since  wrought  so  powerfully  in  restoring  evangelical  piety 
within  the  bosom  of  the  Establishment  itself.  The  Puritans 
were  Calvinists.  The  stalwart  theologians  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  whose  names  have  become  household  words,  whose 
works  are  even  now  republished  and  circulated  by  scores  of 
thousands   through   Protestant   Christendom,   as   the   most 

*  Hooker  thus  speaks  of  him :  "  A  founder  it  had  (viz.,  the  discipline  of  the 
Reformed  church)  whom,  for  mine  own  part,  I  think  incomparably  the  wisest 
man  that  ever  the  French  church  did  enjoy  since  the  time  it  enjoyed  him.  Hia 
bringing  up  was  in  the  study  of  civQ  law.  Divine  knowledge  he  gathered,  not 
by  learning  or  reading  so  much  as  by  teaching  others.  For  though  thousands 
were  debtors  to  him  as  touching  knowledge  in  that  kind,  yet  he  to  none,  but  only 
to  God,  the  Author  of  that  most  blessed  fountain,  the  Book  of  Life,  and  of  the 
admirable  dexterity  of  wit,  together  with  the  helps  of  other  learning  which  were 
his  guides. 

*  *  *  *  **  *  *  *  * 

"  Two  things,  of  principal  moment,  there  are  which  have  deservedly  procured 
him  honor  throughout  the  world ;  the  one,  his  exceeding  pains  in  composing  the 
'Institutions  of  Christian  Religion;'  the  other,  his  no  less  industrious  travails  for 
expositions  of  Holy  Scripture  according  to  the  same  Institutions.  In  which  two 
things,  whosoever  they  were  that  after  him  bestowed  their  labor,  he  gained  the 
advantage  of  prejudice  against  them  if  they  gainsayed ;  of  glory  above  them,  if 
they  consented." — Preface  to  Ecclesiastical  Polity. 


JOHN     CALVIN. 

thorough  expositions  of  evangelical  truth,  were,  almost  to  a 
man,  deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  great  Genevan. 

In  this  new  world,  Calvin  has,  from  the  first,  wielded  a 
more  extensive  influence,  both  upon  the  character  of  our  the- 
ology and  the  forms  of  our  ecclesiastical  and  civil  government, 
than  any  other  man.  The  Puritans  of  New  England,  the 
Hollanders  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  the  Keformed  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  Scotch-Irish  of  Virginia  and  Carolina,  the 
Huguenots,  who,  after  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
fled  by  thousands  to  our  shores,  were  all  students  of  his 
works,  in  full  sympathy  with  his  system  of  doctrine.  Causes 
which,  in  the  old  world,  continue  to  prevent  the  full  develop- 
ment of  his  views  in  regard  to  the  form  of  the  Church,  and 
especially  to  limit  the  application  of  his  principles  in  respect 
to  the  establishment  of  civil  liberty,  did  not  exist  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic.  Here  the  churches  modeled  after  the  Ge- 
neva pattern,  furnished  the  mold  for  State  institutions.  The 
representative  republicanism  of  Presbytery  impressed  its  most 
essential  features  upon  our  civil  constitutions  ;  that  republic 
which  now  challenges  the  admiration  of  the  world  for  its 
well-ordered  liberty,  acknowledges,  through  its  ablest  histo- 
rians and  statesmen,  its  obligations  to  the  master-spirit  of 
the  Reformed  church. 

It  is  also  a  fact  full  of  interest,  that  wherever  in  Europe 
or  in  this  country,  the  system  of  Calvin  has  ceased  to  rule  as 
a  vital  element  in  the  popular  instruction,  there  piety,  in  its 
profoundest  experience  and  most  intelligent  form,  has  de- 
clined. The  gi-eat  revivals  of  the  past  century  and  of  this,  in 
the  Church  of  Scotland  under  Chalmers,  in  the  English 
church  under  Simeon  and  Wilberforce,  in  this  country  under 
Edwards,  the  Tennenis,  Davies,  D wight  and  Griffin,  have 
been  distinguished  by  the  re-installation  of  Calvinism  as  the 
most  effective  form  of  divine  truth  for  the  building  up  of  a 
stable  and  intelligent  church.  The  recent  revival  of  evangel- 
ical religion  in  Germany  and  France,  has  been  marked  by 
nothing  more  significant  than  the  revival  of  interest  in  the 
writings  of  the  great  Reformer.     The  Lutheran  church,  so 


310      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

long  the  rival  of  the  Reformed,  as  she  emerges  from  her 
eclipse  of  faith,  tm'ns  joyfully  to  hear  the  voice  of  Calvin,  as 
it  echoes  still  across  the  waters  of  Lake  Leman.  Her  ablest 
theologians  edit  his  works  and  re-write  his  life.  And  there, 
where  once  Luther  and  Melancthon  reigned  supreme,  the 
word  of  Calvin,  after  the  lapse  of  three  centuries,  has  begun 
to  quicken  multitudes  and  shape  the  thoughts  of  those  who 
are  working  out  this  new  reformation.  At  this  moment  Cal- 
vin is  effecting  more  to  renovate  the  Protestantism  of  Ger- 
many than  either  Luther  or  Melancthon.  If  we  pass  over 
into  those  evangelical  sects  which  formerly  rejected  his  sys- 
tem, it  will  be  found  that  the  thinkers  among  them  who 
combine  in  the  highest  degree  deep  piety  and  logical  thought, 
approximate  to  his  views  much  more  than  to  any  other  sys- 
tem of  faith. 

Now,  such  influence,  so  wide  and  profound,  so  permanent 
and  diffusive,  is  not  an  accident,  nor  a  product  of  imbecility 
and  malignity.  The  mind  that  thus  brings  into  sympathy 
with  itself  the  profoundest  thinkers  of  three  centuries  ;  that, 
overleaping  the  metes  of  language,  of  nations,  and  even  of 
time,  rules  over  men  of  such  varied  culture,  such  opposing 
prejudices,  and  diverse  pursuits,  need  ask  the  testimony  of  no 
national  academy  to  estabhsh  its  claim  to  greatness.  Time, 
the  spontaneous  voice  of  the  good  and  gi'eat,  the  vital  power 
of  institutions,  civil  and  religious,  felt  over  continents,  have 
long  since  fixed  its  position,  where  ecclesiastical  bigotry  can 
not  reach  it.  It  is  not  the  little  hills,  or  a  solitary  mountain, 
that  can  affect  to  any  great  extent  the  climate  of  a  continent. 
It  is  the  lofty  and  extended  range,  upheaved  by  God  on  high, 
that  permanently  modifies  the  seasons.  Gathering  upon  its 
summits  the  snows  of  winter,  it  feeds  the  streams,  arrests  and 
cools  the  hot  winds  of  summer,  and  spreads  its  influence 
around  half  the  globe.  Level  the  Eocky  Mountains,  and 
what  would  be  the  character  of  all  western  North  America  ? 
Level  the  Alps,  and  what  a  change  would  come  over  the  cli- 
mate of  all  southern  Europe  !  Calvin,  like  those  everlasting 
mountains  under  whose  shadow  he  toiled,  and  where  now  his 


JOHN     CALVIN.  311 

dust  reposes,  for  centuries  has  shed  abroad  an  influence  upon 
the  Protestant  world,  whose  extent  no  man  can  measure, 
whose  future  no  man  can  estimate. 

In  accounting  for  this  vast  influence,  we  are  led  most 
naturally  to  find  its  source  Jii^st  of  all  in  the  character  of  the 
man  himself.  In  the  last  analysis  of  such  power,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  look  for  its  elements  in  the  peculiar  constitution  of 
him  who  puts  it  forth.  It  were  as  easy  to  build  a  pyramid 
on  its  apex,  as  to  suppose  that  a  nairow,  feeble  intellect  could 
be  associated  potentially  with  such  surprising  results.  It 
were  less  irrational  to  imagine  that  the  huge  blocks  which 
compose  the  ruins  of  the  temple  of  Baalbek,  with  all  the  ex- 
quisite beauty  of  the  forms,  which  ages  have  not  sufiiced  ut- 
terly to  efface,  were  quarried,  chiseled  and  elevated  to  their 
position,  by  idiots  and  pigmies,  than  to  suppose  that  Calvin's 
work  was  brought  out  by  feebleness. 

The  most  obvious  characteristic  of  his  intellect  is  /or cc. 
From  whatever  point  you  view  it,  it  presents  the  same  solid, 
massive  aspect.  His  thoughts  are  always  weighty,  sometimes 
gi-and.  He  assails  an  enemy  with  the  heaviest  artillery.  He 
never  falters  in  his  defiance,  or  plays  like  a  light  horseman 
around  the  object  of  attack.  He  is  in  the  field  of  thought, 
Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  cleaving  at  a  blow  of  his  ponderous 
sword,  helmet  and  cuirass  of  steel ;  never  Saladin  with  his 
light  and  keen  Damascus  blade,  searching  for  the  open  joints 
of  his  adversary's  harness. 

He  displays  his  power  in  the  most  rigid  analysis,  combined 
with  the  finest  generalization.  He  searches  at  once  for  prin- 
ciples, and  then  follows  them  out  in  their  various  relations. 
The  highest  power  of  a  logical  mind  consists  not  so  much  in 
the  ability  to  deduce  consequences  from  their  just  causes,  as 
in  the  intuitive  perception  of  original  principles  from  which 
the  appropriate  results  follow  as  naturally  as  the  stream  flows 
fn  m  the  fountain.  The  power  to  reason  on  premises  already 
known  is  far  less  characteristic  of  a  truly  great  mind,  than 
the  power  to  discern  the  radical  elements  which  constitute  the 
only  just  basis  on  which  a  true  solution  of  any  great  question 


312      HISTOKICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

can  be  wrought  out.  Inferior  minds  often  exhibit  great  skill 
in  the  construction  of  syllogisms.  Allow  them  premises,  and 
they  will  conduct  you  straight  to  their  conclusions.  But  it 
is  only  a  mind  of  truly  original  power,  the  highest  logical 
force,  that  descends  at  once  to  the  determination  of  the 
groundwork  of  all  correct  thought,  and  rears  upon  it  an  ar- 
gument comjjact  and  immovable  as  the  pyramids.  Such  a 
man  as  Eck,  the  opponent  of  Luther,  and  at  first  the  leading 
champion  of  the  Papacy,  is  a  fair  example  of  an  empirical 
logician,  who  reasoned  from  any  and  every  premise  that  offered 
itself,  with  a  skill  that  not  unfrequently  confounded  the 
greatest  of  his  opponents.  In  mere  dialectics  neither  Luther 
nor  Melancthon  was  a  match  for  him.  But  Calvin's  mind 
was  of  another  and  a  higher  order.  He  intuitively  sunk  his 
shaft  down  to  the  very  rock.  He  sees  with  wonderful  clear- 
ness and  states  with  convincing  force  the  principles  which 
alone  are  fundamental  to  his  subject.  His  statement  of  these 
is  usually  a  demonstration.  With  his  feet  ujDon  the  rock,  he 
puts  forth  his  strength  with  perfect  ease,  and  confides  in  the 
logical  unfolding  of  the  tnith.  Erasmus  could  analyze  a  leaf, 
and  describe  its  minute  construction  with  greater  elegance  and 
taste  ;  Luther  could  paint  the  tree  itself,  in  its  majestic  ex- 
pansion, and  wilderness  of  branches,  and  with  greater  vivid- 
ness ;  but  neither  of  these  equaled  him  in  the  ability  of  laying 
bare  the  roots  which  give  vitality  to  every  branch  and  leaf. 
Nor  did  he  lack  the  power  of  logical  development.  A  clear  and 
compact  argumentation,  not  unlike  that  of  Webster,  char- 
acterizes almost  all  the  efforts  of  his  mind.  His  perceptions 
are  sharply  defined,  as  well  as  profound.  His  reasoning  flows 
on  naturally  as  the  necessary  consequence  of  his  princijjles. 

In  his  mental  constitution  the  reasoning  faculty  held  su- 
premacy. The  imagination,  or  the  fancy,  was  either  not 
originally  very  vigorous,  or  it  had  been  trained  to  the  work 
of  an  humble  servitor.  He  once  attempted,  like  most  other 
men  of  great  intellectual  power,  to  write  poetry,  but  the  at- 
tempt issued,  like  that  of  Cicero,  in  a  failure.  He  had  none 
of  the  susceptibility  to  pleasure  from  tlie  contemplation  of 


JOHN     CALVIN.  313 

the  grand  and  beautiful  in  nature  and  art,  which  belongs  to 
highly  imaginative  natures.  He  strode  through  a  cathedral 
with  about  as  much  emotion  as  a  backwoodsman  feels  in  en- 
tering a  log  cabin.  He  passed  his  life  amidst  the  grandest 
and  most  beautiful  scenes  in  the  natural  world,  yet  there  is 
not  a  line  in  all  his  voluminous  writings  which  betrays  that 
they  exerted  the  slightest  influence  on  his  soul.  Yet  in  spite 
of  this  lack  of  fancy,  he  possessed  enough  of  the  secondary 
power  of  imagination  to  give  life  to  all  his  composition.  He 
indulges  in  tropes  and  metaphors  ;  but  they  never  mislead 
his  intellect,  nor  cloud  his  perceptions.  He  was  not  one  to 
delight  in  an  idea  only  as  it  loomed  up  in  an  illuminated 
bank  of  fog.  He  never  suffers  a  subtle  fancy  or  an  original 
analogy  to  seduce  him,  as  it  did  Burke  and  Jeremy  Taylor, 
from  the  main  course  of  his  demonstration.  They  loved  to 
play  with  their  subject  ;  to  dress  it  up  in  all  the  colors  of  the 
rainbow  ;  to  adorn  it  with  every  variety  of  illustration  which 
an  exuberant  imagination  could  create  or  discern,  until,  not 
unfrequently,  the  subject  itself  was  wholly  lost  sight  of  be- 
neath the  richness  and  amplitude  of  the  costume.  But  Cal- 
vin's intellect  never  encumbered  his  thoughts  with  a  super- 
fluity of  adornment.  He  drives  directly  at  the  object  he  seeks 
to  attain,  without  waiting  to  gather  up  in  his  progress  a  com- 
pany of  gay  and  fanciful  attendants. 

Nor  is  it  at  all  just  to  regard  him  as  merely  able  to  com- 
bine most  happily  the  thoughts  of  others — a  demonstrator  of 
the  principles  which  they  had  unfolded.  The  power  of  an 
independent  thinker,  of  an  original  discoverer,  is  visible  on 
every  page  of  his  works.  He  searched  through  the  past,  and 
tried  conclusions  which  others  had  reached,  by  the  rules  which 
his  own  mind  had  measured.  His  every  step  is  marked  by 
the  same  originality,  independence  and  authority  which  char- 
acterized Napoleon  in  the  demonstrations  of  the  battle-field. 
Both  were  undoubtedly  indebted  to  the  past.  No  man  is 
purely  original  in  this  age  of  the  world.  The  one.  had  studied 
Caesar,  Marlborough,  and  Turenne,  tlie  other  had  read  the 
fathers  and  schoolmen,  and  each  had  mastered  all  that  had 


314     HISTOKICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

been  taught  before  bis  day.     Yet  both  proceeded  in  their 
work  Avith  independence,  greatness  and  power. 

In  order  to  conceive  rightly  of  the  power  of  such  an  intel- 
lect, we  must  not  lose  sight  of  Calvin's  peculiar  temperament. 
A  great  mind  is  not  unfrequently  so  imbedded  in  a  gross  na- 
ture, that  its  activity  is  greatly  diminished.  It  reveals  its 
power  only  in  occasional  and  spasmodic  efforts.  A  sluggish 
or  a  sensual  nature  often  drags  down  the  loftiest  intellect,  or 
greatly  impedes  its  operations.  Calvin's  temperament  was 
of  another  character.  He  cared  not  at  all  for  ordinary  pleas- 
ures ;  neither  sensual  passions,  nor  those  which  fasten  upon 
earthly  possessions,  moved  him.  He  was  as  content  with 
poverty  as  with  riches,  and  better  satisfied  with  the  meager 
fare  which  left  his  mind  clear,  than  with  the  feast  of  the  opu- 
lent. He  might  have  been  a  Francis  Xavier  ;  he  never  could 
have  been  an  Alexander  VI.  He  might  have  condemned 
himself  to  the  isolation  of  the  ascetic  Jerome  ;  with  him  he 
could  look  down  upon  all  merely  earthly  dignities  as  toys 
suitable  for  vulgar  minds,  while  occupied  with  his  own  great 
thoughts,  with  those  spiritual  ideas  which  are  of  power  to 
mold  the  strongest  intellects  of  the  world  ;  but  he  never 
could  have  become  the  slave  of  those  earthly  appetites  which 
drove  Origen  to  sacrifice  his  manhood  to  the  morbid  demands 
of  conscience.  He  was  preeminently  an  intellectualist.  Aside 
from  the  restraining  power  of  grace,  his  natural  temperament, 
associated  with  a  mind  so  active  and  fervent,  contributed  not 
a  little  to  lift  him  above  many  of  the  temptations  which  as- 
sail men  differently  constituted.  It  may  indeed  have  rendered 
him  less  susceptible  of  the  pleasures  of  social  life  ;  it  may 
have  amounted  to  a  defect  in  his  character,  and  unfitted  him 
to  shine  in  the  more  hmited  sphere  of  a  merely  pastoral  office  ; 
it  may  have  diminished  somewhat  his  sympathy  with  com- 
mon minds  and  ordinary  interests  ;  but  it  undoubtedly  con- 
stituted an  important  qualification  for  the  loftier  stage  on 
which  he  was  destined  to  act  his  part,  and  assisted  in  elevat- 
ing him  to  that  position  from  which,  as  from  a  throne  higher 
than  that  of  kings  and  emperors,  he  was  to  send  forth  thoughts 


JOHN     CALVIN.  315 

that  have  worked  with  quickening  power  for  centuries  in  the 
hearts  of  millions.  It  gave  him  a  strength  of  mental  endur- 
ance unsurpassed  even  by  the  dead  and  yet  living  emperor  of 
his  own  native  land.  These  men  were  cast,  in  this  respect,  in  a 
similar  mold.  Impassive,  in  regard  to  the  ordinary  influences 
that  sway  men,  as  marble,  they  both  possessed,  in  part  as  the 
consequence  of  this  constitution,  an  astonishing  force  of  con- 
tinued and  intense  mental  action.  Calvin  never  rested.  He 
never  gave  way  to  self-indulgent  repose.  He  passed  from  the 
lecture-room  to  the  study  ;  from  the  exhausting  work  of 
preaching  to  the  labor  of  preparing  commentaries,  institutes 
of  theology,  controversial  tracts,  with  no  diminution  of  en- 
ergy. He  slept  but  little  ;  his  body  wasted  to  a  skeleton  un- 
der the  imperious  demands  of  his  spirit.  But  his  intellect, 
as  if  superior  to  all  physical  forces,  gathered  fresh  strength 
from  its  own  restless  action,  and  grew  mightier  as  the  powers 
of  the  earthly  nature  decayed.  Baxter  had  much  of  the  same 
constitution,  but  we  know  of  no  man  of  his  time,  and  but  few 
are  known  to  history,  who  were  his  equals  in  the  capacity  of 
unintermitted  and  far-reaching  thought.  It  is  said  that  Ho- 
mer sometimes  nods  ;  we  know  that  Luther  often  demanded 
repose  ;  even  the  more  intellectual  Melancthon  grew  weary  ; 
but  Calvin,  in  his  extraordinary  flights,  seemed  never  to  drop 
his  pinions  ;  he  swept  a  wider  circle  as  he  advanced  nearer  to 
the  sun. 

We  have  but  one  other  remark  to  make  in  respect  to  Cal- 
vin's peculiar  constitution,  in  virtue  of  which  his  influence 
has  been  so  vast  and  permanent.  He  represented  in  himself, 
to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other,  the  ideas  and  ivants  that 
were  then  at  work  in  the  Christian  Church.  Men  differ  as 
much  in  the  power  of  representing  the  feehngs  and  the  views 
of  then-  fellow-men  as  in  any  other  one  respect.  The  masses 
move  along  incapable,  in  the  main,  of  seizing  the  great  ideas 
which  control  them,  or  of  expressing  distinctly  and  vividly 
the  spirit  which  animates  a  state  or  nation.  But  there  are 
men  in  whose  minds  that  which  lies  indistinct  and  confused 
in  the  multitude  arrays  itself  into  order  and  system,  and 


316     HISTORICAL    DISCOUESES    AND    ESSAYS. 

stands  fortli  as  distinct  and  harmonious  as  the  movements 
of  a  gi-eat  army  under  the  eye  of  a  consummate  general,  who 
seize  instinctively  upon  the  spirit  which  is  abroad,  or  who  are 
unconsciously  so  filled  and  animated  by  it  that  it  finds  a  direct 
illustration  through  their  words  and  deeds  ;  who  occupy  so 
elevated  a  region  that  the  perception  of  the  want  enables 
them  at  once  to  perceive  also  that  which  will  most  fully  meet 
it.  This  power  is  one  of  the  primary  elements  of  greatness. 
It  is  a  matter  of  original  constitution.  Study  and  training 
may  increase  its  susceptibihty,  and  impart  a  power  to  control 
its  direction.  Circumstances  are  always  necessary  to  its  full 
development  to  give  it  a  position  in  which  it  may  reveal  itself 
in  living  acts.  When  the  fit  occasions  arise,  then  such  a  man 
appears  ;  he  is  at  once  recognized  by  the  multitude,  and  hence- 
forth he  remains  a  living  embodiment  of  that  which  in  them 
has  long  struggled  for  expression. 

Now  it  constitutes  one  of  the  marked  characteristics  of 
Calvin,  and  explains  to  us  in  part  the  hold  he  has  had  upon 
the  Church,  that  he  stood  forth  as  the  representative  of  the 
Reformation  as  it  existed  in  the  larger  class  of  minds,  espe- 
cially in  those  whose  influence  in  the  development  of  Chris- 
tianity was  destined  to  be  superior  to  that  of  all  others. 
Luther  was  a  German  ;  and  while  it  is  true  that  his  great 
soul  stood  up  in  defense  of  the  liberty  and  purity  of  the 
Church,  when  other  men  quailed,  and  while  he  will  thus 
ever  remain  the  grandest  figure  among  the  mighty  men  of 
that  or  any  other  age,  yet  the  very  intensity  of  his  national 
spirit,  which  gave  him  such  surpassing  power  over  his  own 
countrymen,  incapacitated  him  from  being  in  full  sympathy 
with  the  Reformers  of  other  nations.  He  thought,  he  felt,  he 
spake,  as  a  German.  The  whole  costume  of  his  theology  and 
ecclesiastical  polity  is  national.  He  represents  the  defects,  as 
well  as  the  excellences,  the  cumbrous  robes  as  well  as  the 
bold  spirit,  of  his  own  people.  Men  think  of  him  only  as  a 
German.  He  never  set  foot  out  of  his  country,  except  in 
the  direction  of  the  Vatican.  And  it  is  casting  no  disrespect 
upon  his  memory,  or  diminishing  aught  from  his  real  worth. 


JOHN      CALVIN.  317 

to  affirm  that  lie  never  was  the  representative  of  the  largest 
number  of  the  most  influential  minds  enlisted  in  that  vast 
movement. 

But  vi^ith  Calvin  it  was  not  so.  Men  knew  him  not  as  a 
Frenchman,  any  more  than  they  know  Paul  as  a  Hebrew. 
Ardently  as  he  loved  his  nation,  yet,  in  the  loftier  position  he 
had  reached,  he  had  in  a  great  measure  left  behind  him  na- 
tional peculiarities,  and  brought  himself  into  sympathy  with 
the  energetic  spirits  of  all  Protestantism,  Knox,  Cranmer, 
and  Melancthon  sat  at  his  feet,  and  recognized  in  him  the 
embodiment  of  views  and  feelings  common  to  them  all.  He 
was  a  Scotchman  to  one,  an  Englishman  to  another,  a  Hol- 
lander to  a  third.  He  lived  at  an  elevation  of  thought,  and 
amid  a  circle  of  ideas,  into  which  the  most  spiritual  thinkers 
on  the  side  of  the  Eeformation  rejoiced  to  enter  ;  where,  ex- 
alted above  the  lower  range  of  sectarian  views,  they  met 
together  as  on  the  common  platform  of  substantial  Chris- 
tianity. It  was  this  cosmopolitan  feature  of  Calvin's  spirit 
that  would  not  suffer  him  to  become  identified  with  the  par- 
tisan views  of  Zwingle,  although  in  some  respects  he  resem- 
bled that  great  Reformer  more  fully  than  any  other  man  of 
that  age.  This  broad,  capacious  spirit,  as  it  qualified  him  to 
move  in  the  higher  regions  of  a  common  Christianity,  made 
him  then,  and  ever  since,  the  representative  of  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  of  vast  multitudes  in  all  the  nations  among  whom 
Protestantism  prevailed. 

If  to  these  constitutional  attributes  of  Calvin's  character, 
to  this  originally  vigorous  and  comprehensive  understanding, 
this  peculiarly  intellectual  temperament,  this  renmrkable  rep- 
resentative spirit,  we  add  a  training  at  once  scholastic,  legal, 
biblical,  partaking  of  the  subtlety  of  the  schoolmen  from  whom 
the  scepter  was  just  then  passing  away  ;  of  the  accuracy  and 
breadth  of  legal  science,  then  in  its  early  manhood  ;  of  the 
freshness  and  life  which  the  revived  study  of  the  original 
Scriptures  had  imparted  to  classical  knowledge  ;  and  if  to 
these  powerful  means  of  mental  development,  we  add,  still 
further,  a  spiritual  discipline  most  profound,  biingiug  him 


318     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

into  fellowship  with  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  into  exper- 
imental knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus — we  shall 
then  have  before  us,  in  the  main,  the  original  sources  of  that 
power  which  has  wrought  so  vigorously  and  so  long  in  all 
parts  of  the  Protestant  world. 

This  Keformer,  thus  furnished  of  God  with  a  genius  of 
exliaustless  fecundity  and  power,  laid  it  all  upon  the  altar  of 
religion.  By  a  life  of  incessant  toil,  he  accomplished  results 
befitting  such  original  endowments.  For,  after  all,  it  is  by 
deeds  that  gi'eatness  vindicates  itself.  Nor  is  it  every  kind  of 
mental  labor  that  exerts  a  personal  influence.  There  are  men 
of  vast  acquirements  w^ho  have  accomplished  works  at  once 
difficult  and  admirable  ;  works  that  abide  a^s  the  memorial  of 
their  greatness  when  they  have  passed  away,  but  who,  never- 
theless, do  not  impress  themselves  or  their  thoughts  upon  the 
minds  of  the  world.  Erasmus  effected  a  great  work  in  editing 
the  Greek  Testament,  thus  placing  in  the  hands  of  others  the 
instrument  by  which  they  were  to  revolutionize  the  Christian 
Church  ;  but  in  all  this,  he  is  not  felt,  personally,  as  a  quick- 
ening influence.  The  translators  of  the  original  Scriptures 
into  the  vernacular'  of  the  people,  like  Tyndale  and  Cover- 
dale,  did  that  which  entitles  them  to  the  everlasting  gratitude 
of  the  Church  ;  but  in  all  this,  they  do  not  so  come  person- 
ally in  contact  with  the  minds  of  men  as  to  make  themselves, 
their  genius,  their  thoughts,  a  living  and  direct  influence  by 
which  they  are  seen,  and  felt,  and  acknowledged,  as  mighty 
thinkers.  Calvin  himself  assisted  in  the  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  into  his  native  language  ;  but  it  is  Calvin  as  the 
demonstrator  of  divine  truth,  the  voice  of  God  to  millions, 
the  expounder  of  the  living  word,  the  illustrator  of  that  which 
is  obscure,  and  the  exhibitor  of  great  princijiles  in  a  coherent 
system,  that  has  become  an  emjDeror  in  the  realm  of  thought. 

Calvin  was  not  naturally  given  to  controversy  ;  but,  pos- 
sessed of  such  remarkable  powers  for  the  discussion  of  truth, 
and  placed  in  a  position  where  he  felt  himself  compelled  to 
vindicate  the  great  principles  of  the  Reformation  from  the 
assaults  of  its  avowed  enemies,  and  the  abuses  of  its  friends, 


JOHN     CALVIN.  319 

he  was  necessarily  drawn  into  the  arena  of  personal  conflict. 
It  was  with  reluctance  that  he  paused  from  his  direct  labor 
in  developing  the  great  system  of  divine  truth  for  the  us»  of 
the  Church  at  large ;  but  when  his  views  were  assailed,  when 
monstrous  errors  were  putting  on  the  aspect  of  truth,  when 
the  rising  Church  of  Christ  was  threatened  with  total  sub- 
version, then  he  turned  aside  for  a  time  from  his  gi-eat  work 
to  unmask  the  error,  and  confirm  the  perplexed  children  of 
God.  He  engaged  in  controversy  with  more  than  his  wonted 
ardor.  His  spirit  was  heated,  and  often  exasperated,  by  the 
malignancy  and  the  felt  evils  of  the  attacks  of  the  errorists 
of  that  time.  He  wrestled  with  the  most  gigantic  forms  of 
error.  He  assailed  them  with  the  most  ponderous  logic,  with 
the  bitterest  sarcasm.  If  he  did  not  always  discriminate  be- 
tween a  malignant  opposition  and  an  honest  conviction,  it 
was  in  part  because  the  very  violence  of  error  amidst  the  up- 
heaving confusion  of  religious  systems,  needed  to  be  met  by 
an  opposition  at  once  bold  and  uncompromising.  Personal 
controversies,  however  necessary  they  may  be  for  the  vindica- 
tion of  divine  truth,  yet  are  always  liable  to  engender  the 
heat  of  ill  feeling.  The  controversialist  must  be  almost  super- 
human, not  to  impute  wrong  feeling  to  him  whom  he  has 
convicted  of  wrong  thinking.  The  intolerance  of  error,  which 
is  holy,  passes  over  too  often  into  that  intolerance  of  the  error- 
ist  which  is  sinful.  And  hence  it  is  that  controversy  rarely 
lives,  in  its  influence,  beyond  its  own  age.  The  struggle  for 
victory  mingles  with  the  struggle  for  truth.  Points  of  no  real 
importance  are  considered  as  essential.  Positions  are  taken 
according  to  their  relation  to  an  opponent,  and  not  according 
to  their  bearing  upon  the  Church  at  large.  Criminations  and 
recriminations  take  the  place  of  thorough  discussion.  The 
battle  is  often  fought  and  won  on  grounds  that  have  little 
interest  for  posterity,  or  which  are  often  not  the  real  grounds 
on  which  the  truth  must  be  vindicated  in  after  times.  For 
these  reasons,  controversial  writings,  with  rare  exceptions,  are 
among  the  most  short-lived  of  all  theological  writings.  Au- 
gustine's "  City  of  God"  lives,  while  his  controversial  tracts 


■320      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

are  known  only  to  the  curious  historian,  and  serve  only  to 
illustrate  the  conflicts  of  the  Church.  Luther's  tracts,  ful- 
minated against  the  heresiarchs  of  his  day,  are  just  so  much 
lumber  to  the  masses  of  the  Christian  Church  ;  while  his 
"Epistle  to  the  Galatians"  remains  as  a  vivifying  force  in 
the  hearts  of  men.  Milton's  "  Areopagitica"  will  never  die  ; 
while  his  "  Eikonoklastes,"  with  all  its  wealth  of  diction  and 
magnificent  declamation,  is  virtually  unknown.  Now  and 
then,  a  controversial  treatise  on  some  subject  of  abiding  inter- 
est, and  approaching  the  didactic  style,  like  Pascal's  "  Pro- 
vincial Letters,"  keeps  its  position  ;  but  even  such  works 
yield,  in  interest  and  permanent  influence,  to  calmer  and  less 
personal  discussions.  Even  Pascal's  "  Thoughts  on  Religion," 
imperfect  and  fragmentary  as  is  their  character,  are  yet  vastly 
more  effective  now,  and  are  destined  to  a  far  wider  range  of 
influence,  than  the  wonderful  artillery  with  which  Port  Royal 
assailed  the  Jesuits,  and  set  all  France  and  Italy  in  a  blaze.* 

While  no  man  was  a  more  successful  controversialist  than 
Calvin  ;  while  some  of  his  tracts,  like  his  letter  to  Cardinal 
Sadolet,  are  models  of  fine  argument  and  an  elevated  Christian 
spirit,  yet  they  have  ceased  deeply  to  interest  the  Christian 
Church,  and  Calvin  lives  now  in  those  calmer  works  which 
embody  his  profounder  thinking  and  his  pure  life  of  faith. 

Let  us  view  him  then  as  a  theologian.  For  it  is  as  the 
author  of  that  system  which  by  common  consent,  since  his 
time,  has  borne  his  name,  that  he  has  won  the  proudest  posi- 
tion as  a  thinker  and  wields  the  greatest  influence  over  the 
faith  of  the  Protestant  world.  Undoubtedly  the  basis  of  his 
power  is  the  fact  that  this  system  is  substantial  truth  ;  that 
amidst  the  intense  scrutiny  and  adverse  questionings  of  after 
ages,  and  the  advance  of  scientific  theology,  there  yet  remains 
in  the  whole  of  this  magnificent  edifice  scarcely  a  single  mu- 

*  In  these  remarks  we  refer  to  personal  controversies,  where  individuals  are 
pitted  against  each  other.  Many  works  are  controversial,  in  the  sense  of  oppos- 
ing error,  which  assume  a  didactic  form,  and  in  which  the  personal  element  is 
either  wholly  wanting,  or  is  not  made  prominent.  The  "  De  Civitate  Dei,''  and 
Edwards  on  the  Will,  are  examples. 


JOHN     CALVIN.  321 

tilation,  with  only  here  and  there  a  recognized  disproportion 
or  some  small  quantity  of  perishaLle  material.  Nor  is  the  sys- 
tem simply  true,  but  also  that  form  of  truth  which  presents  it 
in  its  profoundest  and  loftiest  aspects.  It  starts  with  just  and 
comprehensive  views  of  God.  It  lays  its  foundation  deep  in 
the  divine  sovereignty.  It  sees  the  Almighty  in  his  sublime 
capacity  of  an  absolute  and  an  infinitely  wise  Governor  in  all 
things.  It  beholds  him  sitting  on  the  circle  of  the  heavens, 
the  inhabiter  of  eternity,  and  out  of  his  infinite  perfections 
ordaining  for  his  own  glory  whatever  cometh  to  pass.  This 
is  the  key  to  unlock  all  the  mysteries  of  theology.  All  the 
parts  of  this  system  are  directly  related  to  him  as  their  final 
cause.  The  fall  and  the  redemption  of  man  take  their  char- 
acter from  his  jiurpose,  and  find  their  full  explanation  only 
in  his  wise  and  holy  sovereignty.  There  is  nothing  really 
profound  that  does  not  thus  center  in  God.  The  system  that 
starts  from  man — that  makes  much  of  man,  is  necessarily 
superficial. 

But  while  truth,  and  such  truth,  constitutes  the  eternal 
basis  of  this  system,  yet  this  of  itself  does  not  account  for  the 
ftict  of  Calvin's  influence  as  its  expounder.  The  same  system, 
in  the  main,  had  been  held  by  theologians  before  him,  and  in 
his  own  time.  Augustine  maintained  it  with  great  force  of 
eloquence.  The  schoolmen  had  to  a  great  extent  reduced  it 
to  a  scientific  form.  His  cotemporary,  Melancthon,  had  em- 
bodied it  substantially  in  those  celebrated  confessions  and 
apologies  which  for  a  time  spread  dismay  through  the  ranks 
of  the  Papacy.*     We  must  look  for  another  reason  for  the 

*  The  Lutheran  Confessions  do  not  go  as  far  as  Calvin  on  the  subject  of 
predestination ;  nor  do  the  majority  of  those  who  , adopt  his  system  fully  accept 
his  representations  on  that  subject.  Henry  says:  (vol.  ii.  p.  94,)  "He  (Calvin) 
practically  agreed  with  Luther  in  this  matter  (of  predestination),  and  in  his  last 
Confession,  drawn  up  in  1562,  he  speaks  more  decidedly  than  ever  against  those 
who  trusted  to  predestination,  rather  than  to  that  which  immediately  concerns 
their  state."  Luther,  he  tells  us,  read  the  "Institutes,"  "cum  singulari  volup- 
tate."  Melancthon  never  harmonized  fully  with  Calvin  on  this  point.  Calvin 
must  be  considered  as  the  man  who  has  most  fully  declared  this  doctrine,  and 
established  it. 

21 


322        HISTORICAL      DISCOURSES    AND     ESSAYS. 

fact  that  this   system   has  come  to  bear  the  name  of  the 
Genevan  Reformer. 

In  regard  to  this  point  there  are  several  things  which  com- 
bine to  make  up  the  power  of  Calvin  ;  part  of  which  he  had 
in  common  with  the  Reformers,  and  part  of  which  he  possessed 
in  a  degree  superior  to  them. 

1.  He  took  the  Bible  alone  as  the  rule  of  faith.  He  brought 
all  his  reasonings  to  the  simple  test  of  Scripture.  He  did  this 
so  fairly  and  with  such  correctness  of  interpretation,  that  while 
the  full  inspiration  and  authority  of  the  sacred  writers  are 
admitted,  so  long  will  his  views  of  truth  remain  unshaken. 
This  he  did  in  common  with  his  co-laborers. 

2.  He  divested  this  system  of  the  superstitious  notions, 
t^ilse  philosophies,  and  subtle,  but  human  distinctions,  which 
from  the  days  of  Ambrose  and  the  degeneracy  of  the  Roman 
church,  had  been  accunuilated  upon  it.  He  swept  away,  as 
if  they  were  so  many  spiders'  webs,  those  earthly,  fantastic, 
and  unscriptural  reasonings  by  which  the  Papacy,  in  its  fearful 
apostacy,  had  sought  to  justify  itself,  and  vindicate  its  claim 
to  be  the  Church  of  God.  Never  was  there  a  mind  less  given 
to  superstition — less  under  the  influence  of  a  morbid  imagina- 
tion acting  upon  a  morbid  conscience.  He  separated  intui- 
tively the  accretions  of  error — the  miserable  coverings  of  wood, 
hay,  and  stubble  which  previous  theologians  had  built  around 
the  glorious  temple  of  truth.  This  he  did  also  in  common 
with  the  other  great  men  of  the  Reformation. 

3.  He  seized  upon  the  gi'eat  points  of  this  system  with 
surprising  force.  They  stood  out  clearly  before  him  in  their 
relations  to  each  other.  He  developed  them  with  masterly 
power.  He  reasons  not  only  acutely  and  profoundly,  but 
with  a  judiciousness  and  discretion  never  surpassed. 

Some  men  write  only  for  the  learned  ;  others  only  for  the 
unlearned.  Calvin,  on  the  other  hand,  represented  that  large 
class  lying  between  these  extremes.  In  learning,  on  a  level 
with  the  learned,  he  yet  wrote  theology  not  for  the  scientific 
but  for  the  thoughtful.  He  thus  ultimately  molded  those  above 
and  those  below  him,  for  the  scientific  were  attracted  by  his 


JOHN     CALVIN,  323 

eloquence,  and  then  affected  "by  his  profound  arguments,  while 
the  masses  will  always  be  moved  by  those  who  reason  most 
clearly  and  forcibly.  It  is  thus  that  Calvin's  Institutes  are 
often  found  not  only  as  indispensable  to  the  library  of  the 
scholar,  but  in  the  hands  of  the  more  intelligent  of  the  peo- 
ple. He  so  constructed  and  developed  his  system  that  it 
should  meet  the  wants  of  the  very  minds  that  have  the  widest 
rule,  and  accomplish  the  most  among  men.  It  might  have 
been  just  as  true,  and  as  a  system  just  as  complete,  indeed  as 
a  scientific  development  of  theology  more  complete,  and  yet 
having  a  different  form,  have  soon  ceased  to  meet  the  wants 
of  man,  or  passed  into  utter  oblivion.  In  constructing  a  ship 
there  is  a  vast  difference  between  the  huge  galleons  in  which 
Spain  used  to  transport  her  treasures  home  from  the  western 
Ophir,  at  the  rate  of  four  or  five  knots  an  hour,  and  those 
model  vessels  which,  under  the  impulse  of  steam,  and  with  or 
without  or  against  the  wind,  now  traverse  the  ocean  in  a 
week  or  two.  And  in  the  construction  of  a  system  of  the- 
ology, there  is  an  equal  difference  in  adaptation  to  meet  the 
wants  of  living  souls.  This  difference  between  Calvin  and 
any  of  his  cotemporaries  is  manifest  to  him  who  will  consult 
their  works,  and  invests  him  with  a  perennial  influence — a 
power  that  will  only  decline  when  the  nature  of  human  mind 
shall  cease  to  be  what  it  is. 

4.  Calvin's  theology,  in  addition  to  its  comprehensiveness, 
acuteness,  and  adaptation  to  meet  the  difficulties  and  wants 
of  man,  is  instinct  with  the  fire  of  genius.  He  wrote  it  for 
the  Church  of  Christ.  He  did  not  sink  his  style  in  a  series 
of  dry  statements  and  subtle  distinctions.  Every  line  is  elo- 
quent with  thought  and  feeling.  There  are  no  state  plati- 
tudes— no  phrases  repeated  as  a  cold  formula  of  orthodoxy. 
There  is  life — energy — fire,  in  all  his  movements.  A  man 
deeply  moved  and  all  in  earnest  is  before  you.  His  sympathy 
with  truth — with  the  Bible — with  God  and  with  man,  shows 
itself  on  every  page.  It  is  the  most  eloquent  system  of  the- 
ology that  has  ever  been  written.  Not  merely  in  the  elegance 
and  forciblcness  of  its  original  Latin,  but  in  our  cumbrous, 


324         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

irregular  translation,  we  see  the  lofty  genius  and  feel  tlie 
power  of  the  writer,  Untrammeled  by  arbitrary  rules,  unaf- 
fected by  contrary  examjiles,  he  suffers  his  fervent  soul  to 
interpenetrate  the  cold  forms  of  logic,  and  give  to  truth  its 
native  life  and  grace. 

Such  we  conceive  to  be  among  the  most  striking  features 
of  this  great  work.  In  sjnte  of  some  extreme  opinions,  and 
one  in  which  we  conceive  Calvin,  in  common  with  the  other 
Keformers,  to  have  been  wholly  wrong  (his  views  in  regard  to 
the  obligation  of  the  Christian  Sabbath),  we  know  of  no  book 
better  adaj)ted  to  settle  the  mind  of  this  age  firmly  on  the 
great  system  of  evangelical  truth,  and  promote  that  firm  faith 
in  God  and  his  word,  which  a  vain  reliance  ujjon  human  rea- 
son has  weakened  in  multitudes. 

Our  limits  compelling  us  to  be  brief,  we  can  not  enlarge  on 
the  character  and  excellence  of  those  various  commentaries 
upon  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  constitute  in  our 
view  the  noblest  monument  of  Calvin's  genius.  This  is  less 
necessary,  as  it  is  our  jjurpose  to  suggest  the  sources  of  his 
power  rather  than  to  make  an  extended  analysis  of  his  works. 
His  Commentaries  occupied  him  much  of  the  time  after  his 
return  to  Geneva  to  the  close  of  his  life. 

In  mere  exegetical  learning  he  may  not  have  been  superior 
to  several  of  his  cotemporaries.  Indeed  it  is  claimed  that  in 
this  respect  he  was  not  equal  to  his  associate  Beza.  He 
quotes  scarcely  at  all  from  jirevious  commentators.  Verbal 
criticism  he  attempts  but  rarely.  His  learning  appears  rather 
in  results  than  in  the  jDrocesses  by  which  those  results  were 
reached.  His  gi-eat  aim  undoubtedly  was  to  bring  out  the 
mind  of  the  sacred  writers  and  unfold  the  precise  thought  de- 
signed to  be  expressed.  Whatever  would  divert  the  reader 
from  fully  appreciating  this,  he  at  once  threw  away.  In  his 
preface  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Komans,  he  says  to  his  friend 
Grynaeus :  "  We  both  of  us  thought  that  the  principal  ex- 
cellence of  the  interpreter  consisted  in  perspicuous  brevity. 
And  indeed,  since  it  is  almost  his  whole  business  to  lay  open 
the  mind  of  the  writer  whom  he  undertakes  to  interpret,  if 


JOHN     CALVIN.  325 

he  withdraws  his  brains  from  that,  he  so  far  turns  aside  from 
his  main  end,  or  at  least  wanders  beyond  his  limits."  It  may 
also  account  to  us  for  the  absence  of  much  of  the  display  of 
philological  machinery,  so  characteristic  of  modern  commen- 
tators, that  he  wrote  for  the  Church  at  large.  His  lectures 
on  the  Scri])tures,  though  delivered  during  the  week,  were  for 
years  attended  by  large  congregations ;  and  his  Commentaries, 
which  cimstitutcd  the  basis  of  those  lectures,  thus  received  a 
popular  character  adapted  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  Church 
rather  than  those  of  the  few  learned.  Yet  even  among  the 
learned  no  man  has  received  higher  praise  ;  nor  is  there  an- 
other person  of  the  past  or  present  age  whose  interpretations 
of  Scriptures  are  oftener  quoted  by  the  ablest  modern  com- 
mentators.* 

His  great  excellence  and  the  chief  source  of  his  power  lies 
open  to  any  one  at  all  familiar  with  his  Commentaries.  First 
of  all  he  possessed  the  ability  of  seeing  at  once  the  real  posi- 
tion of  the  sacred"  writers.  He  puts  himself  into  their  place 
and  explains  their  words  from  their  point  of  view.  Losing 
sight  of  the  sixteenth  century,  he  transfers  himself  to  the 
times  of  David,  of  Isaiah,  of  Christ.  He  surrounds  himself 
with  their  circumstances  ;  he  breathes  the  atmosphere  of  their 
age,  their  country  and  their  society.  He  sympathizes  with 
their  feelings  and  enters  into  the  very  life  amidst  which  they 
wrote.  His  Commentary  on  the  Romans  seems  thus  to  be 
rather  an  explanation  by  Paul  himself,  or  a  cotemporary, 
than  that  of  a  Frenchman,  centuries  after  the  Epistle  was 
written.  Now,  this  peculiar  form  of  reading  the  Scriptures 
from  the  same  point  of  view  as  their  authors,  was  an  admir- 
able qualification  for  the  full  understanding  of  their  meaning. 
For  while  it  is  peculiar  to  the  inspired  volume  that  the  inspir- 
ation of  God  gives  it  a  character  of  universality  and  teaches 

*  Lucke,  Bheinwald,  Gebser,  Hengstenbcrg,  Boehmer  all  evince  their  acquaint- 
ance with  and  appreciation  of  his  Commentaries.  Winer,  whose  labors  consti- 
tute an  era  in  sacred  criticism,  thus  speaks  of  him  :  "  Calvini  miram  in  pervideuda 
apostoli  mente  subtilitatem,  in  repcnenda  porspicuitatem  probanf — as  quoted  by 
Tholuck. 


326  HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES    AND     ESSAYS. 

an  expression  of  the  religious  feeling  of  all  ages,  yet  that  ex- 
pression is  more  or  less  (of  necessity)  aifected  by  the  occasion 
which  gave  it  birth.  The  actual  exjseriences  of  prophet  and 
apostle  are  necessarily  associated  with  the  circumstances  amid 
which  they  lived.  The  enemies  they  encounter,  the  condition 
of  the  Church  in  their  time,  the  errors  or  evil  practices  that 
prevailed,  all  enter  into  the  mold  in  which  the  truth  is  cast. 
And  he  who  rising  above  the  present,  most  clearly  perceives, 
and  most  fully  appreciates  their  position,  is  of  all  others  best 
prepared  to  represent  their  thoughts.  Calvin  as  fully  as,  per- 
haps more  fully  than,  any  other  commentator  possessed  this 
ability. 

But  this  power  is  only  preliminary  to  another  equally  con- 
spicuous in  him  ;  to  that  peculiar  exegetical  intuition  by  which 
he  seizes  the  natural  development  of  the  thoughts  and  pene- 
trates the  heart  of  a  difficult  passage.  The  secret  links  of 
association  that  bind  together  the  parts  of  the  living  word, 
the  law  by  which  each  writer  thought  and  wrote,  he  appre- 
hends with  surprising  clearness.  He  traces  out  with  peculiar 
skill  the  connections  which  shed  an  entirely  new  light  on  a 
whole  chapter.  Now  here  we  think,  more  than  in  any  other 
one  respect,  is  the  commentator  revealed.  It  is  not  by  mere 
verbal  criticism,  by  the  knowledge  of  forms  of  construction, 
by  the  mastery  of  verbs,  nouns,  adjectives  and  particles,  that 
the  interpreter  of  Scripture  is  most  truly  characterized. 

Bloomfield  and  Winer  may  be  admirable  grammarians  ; 
they  may  furnish  an  admirable  apparatus  for  determining  the 
mere  forms  of  language  ;  but  it  is  quite  another  thing  to 
penetrate  the  language  and  detect  the  course  of  thought 
which  has  given  birth  to  that  peculiar  mode  of  speech.  Indeed, 
we  have  sometimes  thought  that  the  tendencies  which  the 
grammarian  cultivates,  and  by  which  he  is  enabled  to  pro- 
nounce upon  the  intended  character  and  force  of  individual 
words  and  sentences,  were,  in  some  respects,  adverse  to  the 
free  exercise  of  that  exegetical  genius  which  is  keen-sighted 
to  detect  the  spirit  that  lies  within  the  form,  and  the  subtle 
associations  which  chain  together  the  parts  of  the  inspired 


JOHN     CALVIN.  327 

record.  The  lawyer  who  accustoms  liis  mind  to  all  the  details 
of  legal  forms,  sharpens  the  faculty  by  which  he  detects  mi- 
nute sophistries  and  legal  quibbles  ;  but  he  endangers  thereby 
the  power  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  law  itself,  to  gener- 
alize upon  the  great  principles  which  animate  the  whole  fabric 
of  civil  juris j)rudence,  and  correctly  unfold  the  views  of  those 
profound  Avriters  whose  minds  were  mainly  intent,  not  on  the 
construction  of  their  sentences,  but  upon  those  things  of 
whicli  language  is,  at  best,  but  an  imperfect  medium. 

Of  all  books  in  the  world,  the  Bible  is  one  that  needs  just 
such  an  interpreter.  It  is  like  the  natural  world — not  a  con- 
secutive treatise,  like  Plato's  Phaedo  or  Butler's  Analogy, 
but  irregular,  rugged,  varied,  compact,  multiform.  There  are 
mountains  and  valleys,  trees  and  flowers,  crystals  imbedded  in 
granite,  and  coal  cropping  out  from  the  hill-sides  ;  streams 
wild  and  shallow,  smooth  and  profound.  Truth  is  given  in 
condensed  masses,  in  sentences,  in  parables,  in  narratives,  in 
rapid  arguments.  The  strata  of  thought  are  sometimes  piled 
upon  each  other  in  the  inverse  order  of  their  formation,  they 
are  often  torn  violently  asunder,  separated  by  huge  chasms, 
interrupted  by  the  upheaving,  right  through  them,  of  some 
stately  mountain,  whose  top  shines  in  the  far-oif  heaven. 
Now  the  man  who  is  to  interpret  this  book  must  have  a 
genius  above  that  of  a  collector  of  cabinet  curiosities,  or  of 
one  who  can  simply  measure  accurately  the  angle  of  a  crystal 
and  give  names  to  classes  of  beautiful  forms.  Like  Newton 
and  Bacon,  he  must  be  able  to  seize  the  laws  which  have 
formed  these  irregularities,  and  the  subtle  spirit  that  under- 
lies and  penetrates  the  outward  creation. 

Such  an  interpreter  of  God's  word  is  Calvin.  With  won- 
derful tact  he  removes  the  difficulties  that  meet  and  arrest  a 
superficial  observer  ;  he  states  the  different  interpretations 
which  others  have  given  of  the  words  before  him,  and  then 
unfolds,  in  the  most  natural  manner,  the  real  meaning  of  the 
sacred  writer.  He  instinctively  avoids  what  is  forced,  what 
springs  not  spontaneously  from  the  very  heart  of  the  subject. 
He  indulges  in  no  quaint  conceits,  and  never  seeks  to  magnify 


328  HISTOKICAL     DISCOUESES     AND     ESSAYS. 

his  genius  by  tlie  attempt  to  evince  his  ingenuity  in  far- 
fetched explanations.  And  here  lies  his  great  power.  His 
mind  works  so  easily,  the  view  he  gives  springs  so  naturally 
from  the  language,  and  harmonizes  so  entirely  with  the  con- 
text, that,  instead  of  wondering  at  his  skill,  you  rather  won- 
der at  your  stupidity  in  not  having  seen  it  before. 

Another  characteristic  of  Calvin,  as  a  commentator,  is  the 
absence  of  any  attempt  to  make  the  Scriptures  speak  accord- 
ing to  any  preconceived  system  of  doctrine.  We  do  not  mean 
that  he  had  no  respect  to  the  traditional  interpretations  of 
tlie  Church  ;  for  to  have  done  this,  would  have  been  to  reject 
one  of  the  most  admirable  aids  furnished  by  the  Spirit  and 
Providence  of  God.  Nor  do  we  mean  that  in  no  instance  his 
own  doctrinal  behef  exerted  an  influence  in  giving  shape  to 
his  interpretations ;  for  this  would  be  to  attribute  to  him  a 
perfection  of  independence  almost  superhuman.  But  what 
we  mean  is,  that  his  Commentary,  to  a  remarkable  degree,  is 
the  outflowing  of  clear  intellect  and  sj)iritual  life  in  full  sym- 
pathy wdth  the  truth  itself.  It  is  not  cut  and  squared,  to 
meet  the  exigencies  of  a  theological  system.  Unlike  Luther, 
Melancthon,  Musculus,  and  Bugenhagen,  who  "  made  it  their 
chief  concern  to  prove  the  Loci  Communes  of  the  Lutheran 
system,  and  to  shed  additional  light  upon  them,  by  doctrinal 
and  practical  discussions,"  "••'■■  Calvin  sought,  without  reference 
to  any  system,  to  unfold  the  real  sense  of  the  sacred  writers. 
He  does  not  seek,  by  special  pleading  to  establish  some  dogma 
of  theology.  His  feirness,  candor  and  truthfulness  reveal 
themselves  on  every  page.  On  reading  his  "Institutes,"  we 
can  readily  imagine  that  Calvin  could  write  or  had  written  a 
commentary  ;  for  that  work  abounds  with  just  and  forcible 
interpretations  of  Scripture,  as  the  basis  and  justification  of 
the  doctrines  it  contains.  But  no  one,  on  reading  his  Com- 
mentaries, would  have  imagined  that  their  author  had  written 
a  line  of  systematic  theology.  He  avoids  doctrinal  discus- 
sions, except  as  they  constitute  the  simple  and  direct  unfold- 
ing of  the  text.  In  some  instances  even  his  intei'pretations 
*  Tholuck.    Bib.  Rep.,  vol.  il 


JOHN     CALVIN.  329 

seem  to  conflict  with  the  views  expressed  in  his  theology.  It 
is  this  manifest  purpose  to  let  the  Word  of  Grod  utter  its  own 
will,  without  attempting  to  shape  an  instrument  by  which  its 
tones  shall  he  modified,  that  commends  the  Commentaries  of 
Calvin  to  the  minds  of  men,  and  assists  in  perpetuating  his 
influence. 

We  need  not  here  speak  of  his  style,  at  once  elegant,  per- 
spicuous, concise,  and  forcible.  He  rarely  indulges  in  decla- 
mation, and  never  in  that  luxuriance  of  imagery  of  which 
Luther  is  so  remarkable  an  illustration.  He  distinguishes 
admirably  between  the  functions  of  a  commentator  and  a 
preacher  ;  between  the  man  whose  business  it  is  to  lay  open 
the  Scriptures  just  as  they  are,  to  the  thoughtful  reader,  and 
the  man  whose  business  it  is  to  illustrate  and  apply  the  Scrip- 
tures thus  laid  open,  to  all  the  varying  wants  and  circum- 
stances of  a  congregation. 

And  finally,  we  see  in  Calvin  a  spirit  pervaded  with  the 
profoundest  religious  feelings ;  molded  by  the  very  truth  he 
seeks  to  unfold,  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  holy  men  who 
wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  life  of 
religion  animates  every  line.  The  love  of  the  truth  and  of 
Jesus,  the  brightest  manifestation  of  truth,  glows  everywhere. 
We  see  a  Christian  in  profound  experimental  acquaintance 
with  the  deepest  wants  of  the  religious  life  ;  a  confessor,  at- 
testing his  estimate  of  the  gosj^el  by  his  renunciation  of  all 
earthly  honors,  in  obedience  to  its  will ;  a  soul  humble,  pen- 
itent, relying  wholly  on  the  redemption  of  Jesus,  amidst  the 
stern  trials  to  which,  in  common  with  his  fellow-laborers,  he 
was  exposed  ;  a  soldier,  taking  the  truth  of  God  alone  as  his 
armor  and  his  weapon  of  attack  upon  the  powers  of  darkness. 

All  these  great  qualities  have  combined  to  give  Calvin  in- 
fluence as  a  commentator.  They  are  now  reviving  an  interest 
in  him  all  over  Germany  and  the  Protestant  world.  They 
are  destined  to  perpetuate  his  powers,  when  others,  great  and 
learned  and  pious,  but  possessed  of  these  peculiar  excellences 
in  a  less  degree,  have  ceased  to  influence  the  world.* 

*  Those  wlio  desire  to  read  a  learned  and  admirable  analysis  of  Calviu's  Com- 


330      HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

Calvin,  was  not  only  a  writer :  he  was  the  founder,  or  the 
reviver,  of  an  ecclesiastical  system.  He  not  only  pulled  down, 
with  holy  zeal,  the  vast  structure  of  the  Papacy  ;  he  was  also 
equally  zealous  in  reconstructing  the  outward  form  of  the 
Church  in  harmony  with  the  pattern  given  us  in  the  Word 
of  God,  so  far  as  that  was  appropriate  to  the  age  in  which 
he  Hved.  His  views  on  this  subject  were  very  early  matured; 
and  one  of  his  earliest  labors  at  Geneva,  was  an  attempt  to 
build  up  a  church  according  to  his  ideal. 

His  system  involves  the  following  principles  ; 

1st.  The  Church  of  Christ  is  under  the  special  guidance 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  we  are  to  look  to  the  promise  of  the 
Saviour  for  the  preservation  of  her  truth  and  purity. 

2d.  The  Word  of  God  is  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  practice. 

3d.  The  permanent  officers  of  a  church  are  j^resbyters  and 
deacons. 

4th.  To  deacons  is  committed  the  care  of  the  funds,  and 
of  the  poor. 

5th.  To  presbyters  belong  government  and  instruction, 

6th.  Presbyters  are  divided  into,  first.  Pastors  and  teach- 
ers, whose  chief  work  it  is  to  preach  the  gospel  and  perform 
pastoral  labor,  and  administer  the  ordinances  ;  second,  Lay 
elders,  whose  business  it  is,  in  conjunction  with  the  pastors, 
to  attend  to  discipline  and  order. 

7th.  The  election  of  all  these  officers  belongs  to  the 
Church  itself.  The  pastors  ordain  only  those  whom  the 
people  choose  for  this  purpose,  the  function  of  the  Church, 
in  this  behalf,  being  to  decide  who,  in  the  judgment  of  char- 
ity, are  called  of  God  to  office,  no  one  being  qualified  without 
such  call  both  of  God  and  the  people. 

8th.  To  secure  harmony  of  faith  and  practice,  the  churches 
meet  in  Synods  or  Councils  by  their  pastors  and  elders,  the 
latter  being  the  representatives  of  the  people. 


mentaries,  are  referred  to  an  article  by  Tholuck,  translated  in  the  Bib.  Repos,, 

voL  ii.    Pirst  Series. 


JOHN     CALVIN.  331 

9th.  The  Church,  in  all  spiritual  matters,  is  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  the  State,  and  responsible  to  Christ  alone. 

This  system,  in  part,  Zwingle  had  adopted  in  the  church 
at  Zurich,  before  Calvin  came  to  Greneva.  Francis  Lambert 
had  propounded  it,  in  the  main,  in  Germany,  although  with 
little  success.  Calvin,  however,  first  gave  the  full  develop- 
ment of  it  in  theoiy  ;  and  it  is  to  him  that  its  sj)read  among 
the  Reformed  churches  is  chiefly  due.  The  theory,  in  its  per- 
fect form,  is  found  in  his  Institutes.  But  in  the  attempt  to 
"establish  it  at  Geneva,  he  felt  obliged  to  vary  from  it  in  one 
important  particular,  in  suffering  the  elders  to  be  chosen  from 
the  council,  rather  than  from  the  Church  at  large. 

On  this  system,  we  submit  the  following  remarks  : 

1st.  It  constitutes  a  well-defined,  consistent,  and  positive 
government.  Order  is  Heaven's  first  law  :  and  in  the  Church, 
Calvin  saw  that  government  was  just  as  necessary,  and  just 
as  scriptural,  as  in  the  State.  He  sought  to  frame  a  system 
substantially  in  harmony  with  that  adopted  by  the  primitive 
Church,  which  should  be  compact,  consistent,  and  strong 
enough  to  resist  the  tendencies  to  anarchy  on  the  one  side, 
and  priestly  domination  on  the  other 

2d.  It  invests  the  Church,  under  Christ,  with  original 
jurisdiction.  The  power  goes  up  from  the  Church  to  her 
officers,  and  not  down,  from  a  consecrated  and  necessarily  in- 
dependent priesthood,  to  the  people.  It  gives  to  the  Church 
power  to  determine  who  shall  enter  into  fellowship  with  her  ; 
to  decide  upon  articles  of  faith,  according  to  God's  word  ;  and 
to  establish  the  laws  according  to  which  she  shall  be  governed. 
This  is  the  great  principle  of  liberty — the  vital  principle, 
which  opposes  most  directly  all  the  pretensions  of  the  Papacy, 
and  in  its  operation  cuts  up  by  the  roots  all  priestly  arro- 
gance and  power.  It  makes  the  members  of  the  Church 
kings  and  priests  ;  the  ministiy,  while  holding  their  office 
direct  from  Christ  by  the  inward  call  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and 
so  being  his  ambassadors,  are  yet  the  servants  of  the  people, 
for  Christ's  sake. 

3d.  It  provides  for  the  regular  exercise  of  this  power  on 


332      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

the  part  of  the  Church,  by  the  institution  of  a  strictly  repre- 
sentative government.  It  devolves  the  election  of  all  ecclesi- 
astical officers  upon  the  private  members  of  the  Church,  and 
compels  them  to  pass  upon  the  character  of  those  who  are  to 
act  in  her  behalf 

4th.  It  provides  for  all  the  great  objects,  to  attain  which 
officers  are  necessary.  It  designates  the  men  who  shall  preach 
the  gospel,  and  instruct  the  Church,  and  administer  the  ordi- 
nances, and  sets  apart  to  their  work  those  whom  the  Church 
has  appointed.  It  designates  those  who  shall  administer  dis- 
cipline, and  care  for  the  purity,  order,  and  peace  of  the  house 
of  God.  It  specifies  those  who  shall  act  as  stewards  of  the 
congregation,  the  almoners  of  their  bounty,  charged  with  the 
support  of  the  ministry  and  the  poor.  These  are  the  perma- 
nent and  most  necessary  officers  of  the  Church.  And  these 
are  all  found  in  the  primitive  Church. 

5th.  It  involves  the  essential  purity  of  the  clergy,  in  op- 
position to  a  divinely  constituted  prelacy  or  hierarchy.  It 
holds  that  all  ministers  are  equally  bishops  and  presbyters, 
on  an  equality  in  respect  to  government. 

6th.  It  constitutes  the  Church  independent  of  the  State 
in  all  ecclesiastical  and  spiritual  things.  It  gives  no  power  to 
the  State  to  lord  it  over  .God's  heritage  ;  to  determine  who 
shall  be  entitled  to  church  fellowship  ;  who  shall  fill  Church 
offices  ;  what  shall  be  the  faith  of  the  Church  ;  or  who  shall 
decide  upon  her  confessions. 

7th.  Any  minister,  when  placed  in  heathen  lands  or  new 
settlements,  has  an  inherent  right  to  act  alone,  establish 
churches,  and  ordain  their  officers  ;  but  so  soon  as  the  Church 
crystallizes  around  him,  he  comes  under  the  general,  estab- 
lished system, 

8th.  In  addition  to  this  form  of  government,  the  system 
carries  with  it  a  simple  ritual  of  worship.  It  rejects  the  pomp 
and  ceremony  of  the  Romish  church,  as  opposed  to  a  truly 
spiritual  worship.  It  avoids  the  constant  appeal  to  the  senses, 
as  at  war  with  the  simple  power  of  truth,  and  adverse  to  the 
cultivation  of  an  intelligent  and  scriptural  faith.     It  retains 


\ 


JOHN     CALVIN.  333 

what  the  early  Church  possessed — the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, the  preaching  of  the  word,  extempore  prayer,  and  the 
singing  of  psalms  and  hymns.  It  threw  aside,  with  the  mass, 
the  missal,  the  liturgy,  the  processions,  the  robings  of  priests, 
and  the  mummery  of  the  altar. 

The  enunciation  of  these  principles  constituted  an  era  in 
the  history  of  the  Church  and  the  world.  It  is  impossible  to 
estimate  their  influence  in  rearing  a  barrier  against  the  as- 
sumptions of  the  Papacy,  in  promoting  the  healthful  discip- 
line of  the  Church,  and  sowing  liberal  ideas  in  the  world. 
"  These  ideas,"  says  Kanke,  "  are  the  same  on  which  the 
French,  Scotch,  and  American  churches  were  afterwards 
founded,  and,  indeed,  on  which  the  existence  and  develop- 
ment of  North  America  may  truly  be  said  to  rest.  Their 
historical  importance  is  beyond  all  calculation." "'•'•■ 

Luther  approved  the  system,  but  he  felt  unequal  to  the 
task  of  introducing  it  into  Germany.  "  For  the  Germans  are 
a  wild,  rude,  turbulent  people,  with  whom  it  is  not  easy  to 
begin  any  thing,  unless  there  be  the  pressure  of  the  greatest 
necessity ."f  There  was  also  another  reason  which  prevented 
the  progress  of  these  principles  among  the  Lutherans.  The 
Reformation  had  risen  in  connection  with  the  temporal  power. 
The  secular  authorities  had  engaged  in  it,  for  the  purpose,  in 
part,  of  being  emancipated  from  the  immediate  supervision  of 
the  clergy.  They  had  no  love  for  either  the  discipline  or  the 
democracy  of  this  ecclesiastical  regimen.  "  If  these  ideas, 
which  we  may  describe  as  ecclesiastically  democratic,  after- 
wards triumphed  in  other  countries,  it  was  because  the  new 
church  rose  in  opposition  to  the  civil  power  ;  its  real  root 
and  strength  were  in  the  lower  classes  of  the  people.  But  it 
was  far  otherwise  in  Germany.  The  new  churches  were 
founded  under  the  protection,  the  immediate  influence,  of  the 
reigning  authorities,  and  its  form  was  naturally  determined 
by  that  circumstance.":!:     In  France,  where  the  State  opposed 

*  History  of  the  Reformation,  cap.  5. 

f  Luther,  quoted  by  Henry,  Life  of  Calvin,  vol.  L  p.  399. 

j:Ranke,  History  of  the  Reformation,  cap.  5. 


334      HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES    AND     ESSAYS. 

the  new  order  of  tilings,  tliis  system  was  developed  more  fully 
than  Calvin  had  been  able  to  realize  it  in  Geneva.  In  En- 
gland, where  the  king  undertook  the  Keformation,  the  Church 
was  constituted  on  prelatical  principles,  and  Presbyterianism 
assumed  the  form  of  dissent  from  the  established  worship 
But  in  Scotland,  where  the  people  carried  it  over  the  heads  of 
their  rulers,  it  was  triumphantly  established. 

It  is  of  importance  here  to  observe,  first,  that  these  ideas, 
constituting  the  principles  of  freedom  in  the  Church,  are,  of 
all  others,  most  hostile  to  the  advance  of  the  Papacy.  They 
dethrone  pope,  and  cardinals,  and  prelates.  They  suifer  no 
priestly  mediator  to  stand  between  the  Church  and  Christ. 
They  permit  no  man  to  lord  it  over  the  heritage  of  God. 
These  principles,  as  they  prevail,  build  up  free,  pure,  intelli- 
gent churches,  in  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelling  richly,  lifts 
up  a  standard  against  the  pride  of  the  hierarchy  and  the  power 
of  the  Man  of  Sin,  before  which  they  are  destined  to  be  utterly 
destroyed. 

Second.  It  is  Calvin's  good  fortune  to  have  revived  that 
system  which  not  only  most  mightily  opposes  all  spiritual  des- 
potism, but  which  identifies  itself,  as  a  most  efficient  ally,  with 
the  progress  of  civil  liberty.  The  churches  he  has  modeled 
are  the  nurseries  of  intelligent  freemen  ;  of  men  full  of  re- 
spect for  government  as  God's  institution,  not  fractious,  not 
licentious,  not  given  to  anarchy  ;  men  accustomed  to  make 
laws  and  to  obey  them  ;  to  choose  their  own  rulers  and  sus- 
tain them  ;  to  exercise  the  rights  of  priests  and  kings  with- 
out confusion  or  discord.  Such  men  planted  this  land,  and 
founded  this  republic.  The  Puritan  rulers,  says  one  of  our 
greatest  living  orators,  when  they  fled  to  Geneva,  saw  there 
"a  church  without  a  bishop,  a  state  without  a  king."  They 
never  forgot  what  they  saw,  or  the  lesson  it  taught.  They 
attested  it  in  that  great  Parliament  which  brought  the  head 
of  Charles  to  the  block,  and  inaugurated  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  freedom.  They  attested  it  when  two  thousand  of 
them  resigned  their  livings,  and  went  forth  beggars  upon  the 
world.    They  attested  it  when  they  came  to  these  then  inhos- 


JOHN     CALVIN.  335 

pitable  shores,  and  planted  the  church  and  the  school-honse  in 
every  village,  that  they  might  have  liberty  to  worship  God. 
They  attested  it  when  the  hour  of  travail  came,  and  millions 
of  freemen  rose  against  the  injustice  of  King  George  and  Lord 
North.  They  attested  it  when  they  established  the  Church  on 
the  sole  basis  of  God's  word,  and  gave  to  this  new  world  a  re- 
publican Constitution.  Every  State  Constitution  since  formed 
is  a  living  witness  of  the  mighty  working  of  those  principles 
which  Calvin  thus  sent  forth  to  the  world.  While  this  system 
and  these  principles  mold  the  people  and  form  the  churches 
of  this  great  republic,  priestcraft  may  import  her  millions, 
and  rear  her  cathedrals  all  over  the  country,  and  seek  to  play 
off  here  the  sjjiritual  despotism  which,  for  a  thousand  years, 
has  bowed  the  old  world  to  the  dust.  We  will  penetrate  and 
renovate  her  millions  with  the  light  of  God's  pure  truth ;  her 
cathedrals  will  cease  to  witness  the  impieties  of  the  mass,  and 
the  mummery  of  her  liturgy  chanted  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
or  remain  as  monuments  of  a  decaying  superstition  ;  her 
spiritual  thunders  will  furnish  food  for  laughter  and  contempt; 
her  colossal  despotism,  cold  and  frowning,  will  melt  away  be- 
neath the  sun  of  freedom  and  truth.  ■'•'■ 

Such  were  the  great  deeds  that  this  man  was  empowered 
to  perform  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  Such  were  the  living 
thoughts  which  he  sent  forth  to  work  in  the  minds  of  men 
long  after  he  was  in  his  grave.  These  constitute  a  power  in- 
disputably great  and  wonderfully  successful.  These  spread 
his  influence  over  Europe  and  this  new  world.    His  theology, 

*  It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  Calvin  was  among  the  first  of  the 
Protestants  who  sought  to  plant  a  colony  in  America.  "  Their — the  French 
Huguenots' — first  effort  to  plant  a  colony  was  made  in  Brazil,  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  Calvin  himself,  and  of  Admiral  Coligny,  who  had  become  a  convert 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Reformation.  The  church  at  Geneva  furnished  the  mis- 
sionaries designed  to  accompany  their  brethren  to  the  new  world ;  and  its  pastor 
presided  at  the  meetings  at  which  the  necessary  measures  were  adopted.  Thus 
Calvin  and  his  flock  were  the  direct  agents  in  the  earliest  endeavor  to  establish 
the  Protestant  faith  in  America."  It  failed  through  the  treachery  of  Chevalier 
Villagagnon,  it  leader.  "The  colony  was  nearly  thrice  as  numerous  as  that 
which  laid  the  foundations  of  the  institutions  of  New  England." — Ntnth  Am. 
Rev.  for  April,  1855. 


336      HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

his  commentaries,  his  system  of  ecclesiastical  government,  have 
not  grown  old.  Invested  with  a  perennial  youth,  the  provi- 
dence of  Grod  is  even  now  awakening  to  their  study  multi- 
tudes of  thoughtful  minds.  Errors  he  may  have  held  ;  opin- 
ions in  theology  he  may  have  pushed,  in  some  instances, 
beyond  clear  revelation  ;  interpretations  he  may  have  given 
of  individual  passages  of  Scripture  that  will  not  stand  the 
test  of  sacred  criticism  in  its  present  advancement.  To  say 
this  is  only  to  repeat  that  he  was  not  inspired,  arid  that  in- 
fallibility dwells  in  no  uninspired  man.  It  is  in  si:)ite  of  the 
opposition  which  the  stern  aspects  of  parts  of  his  theological 
system  awakened,  in  spite  of  the  practical  errors  into  which 
he,  in  common  with  the  other  Keformers,  fell,  that  the  sub- 
stantial merits  of  his  works  have  won  for  him  so  proud  a  po- 
sition among  the  minds  which  have  been  employed  by  God  to 
wield  a  wide  and  profound  influence  over  the  character  and 
destiny  of  our  race. 

We  can  not  take  our  leave  of  this  illustrious  man  without 
adverting  to  the  time  when  he  arose,  and  the  position  in  which 
he  was  placed.  It  is  a  part  of  the  providence  of  Grod,  not 
only  to  raise  up  great  men,  but  to  place  them  on  that  stage 
and  at  that  time,  which,  together,  will  enable  them  most  suc- 
cessfully to  accomplish  their  mission.  "  You  can  not  pro- 
duce the  great  man  before  his  time,  and  you  can  not  make 
him  die  before  his  time  ;  you  can  not  displace,  nor  advance, 
nor  put  him  back  ;  you  can  not  continue  his  existence,  and 
replace  him,  for  he  existed  only  because  he  had  his  work  to 
do  ;  he  exists  no  longer,  because  there  is  no  longer  any  thing 
for  him  to  do,  and  to  continue  him,  is  to  continue  a  useless 
past.  It  was  once  said  to  a  soldier,  who  had  placed  himself 
upon  a  throne,  '  Sire,  you  must  watch  attentively  over  the 
education  of  your  son ;  he  must  be  brought  up  with  the 
utmost  care,  in  order  to  be  able  to  replace  you.'  '  Eeplace 
me !'  he  replied :  '  I  could  not  replace  myself ;  I  am  the  child 
of  circumstances.'  This  man  felt  that  the  power  which  ani- 
mated him  was  not  his  own,  and  that  it  was  lent  him  for  a 
definite  purpose,  up  to  an  hour  which  he  could  neither  hasten 


JOHN     CALVIN.  337 

nor  put  back."*  Calvin  came  upon  the  stage  just  at  the  time 
when  a  man  of  his  j)eculiar  character  was  most  needed.  Al- 
ready the  Reformation  had  penetrated  the  hearts  of  multi- 
tudes ;  the  first  great  battle  had  been  fought  and  won  ;  the 
Reformers  had  announced  at  Spiers  their  eternal  "  Protesf" 
against  the  edict  of  the  emperor,  commanding  silence  in  re- 
spect to  those  truths  which  their  hearts  burned  to  preach  as 
the  word  of  life  ;  already  they  had  given  to  the  world  their 
"  Augsburg  Confession,"  which  henceforth  was  to  be  one  of 
the  great  landmarks  in  the  advance  of  Christianity.  Henry, 
on  the  throne  of  England,  in  obedience  to  his  brutal  lusts, 
had  just  renounced  allegiance  to  the  pope,  in  order  to  become 
pope  himself  Francis  and  Charles,  perplexed  at  times  and 
wavering,  were  yet  intent  on  crushing  the  Reformation.  Lu- 
ther's grandest  work  in  originating  the  great  revolution,  was 
already  accomplished.  Melancthon,  his  learned  and  noble 
associate,  had  mainly  fulfilled  his  mission.  The  hour  of 
success  was  the  hour  of  danger.  Divisions  were  everywhere 
threatening  the  very  existence  of  the  Protestant  cause.  The 
work  of  consolidation — of  building  up  on  a  solid  foundation, 
amid  the  ruins  of  the  Papacy,  and  the  conflicting  interests 
which  struggled  for  supremacy — had  yet  to  be  done.  A  mind 
was  needed  of  another  order  from  that  of  either  Luther  or 
Melancthon,  Zuingli,  Farel,  or  Lefevre.  A  mind  solid, 
learned,  inventive,  logical,  active,  and  stable,  to  give  forth  a 
full  and  systematic  view  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Cross,  was 
the  great  want  of  the  time.  Calvin,  whose  mental  training 
and  character  were  just  of  this  kind,  suddenly  emerges  from 
the  smoke  of  battle  in  Paris,  and  is  seen  and  recognized  at 
once  as  the  man  for  the  age  and  the  hour.  A  century  earlier, 
or  a  half  century  later,  and  he  would  have  been  out  of  place. 
The  circumstances  of  that  time  were  just  the  ones  to  develop 
such  a  mind,  to  furnish  just  the  work  it  was  qualified  to  do, 
and  to  give  it  just  that  position  in  which  it  could  be  most 
successfully  accomplished, 

*  Cousin,  Hist.  Mod.  PhiL 
22 


338         HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

Nor  is  it  a  matter  of  small  importance  that  Calvin  was  a 
Frenchman,  not  a  German — that  he  was  placed  at  Geneva, 
and  not  at  Wittemberg.  As  a  German,  he  would  have  risen 
under  the  shadow  of  the  great  men  who,  in  Germany,  wielded 
a  scepter  that  no  mere  man  could  hope  to  obtain.  He  would 
have  been  trammeled  in  some  of  his  noblest  efforts.  Coming 
out  of  France,  he  carried  with  him  the  sympathies  of  all  the 
evangelical  of  his  countrymen,  and  over  them  he  exercised  an 
influence  superior  to  that  of  any  other  reformer.  Planted  at 
Geneva,  he  became  the  leader  of  the  Reformation  in  Switzer- 
land and  in  Italy.  Had  he  remained  in  Finance,  his  life  might 
have  been  frittered  away  in  individual  conflicts,  and  he  might 
not  have  been  able  to  develop  and  establish  his  ecclesiastical 
system.  At  Geneva,  he  had  but  to  mold  a  small  community; 
and  though  he  had  to  deal  with  the  warm  blood  of  the  South, 
and  the  bold  spirit  reared  amid  the  wild  scenery  of  the  Alps, 
yet  it  was  a  field  he  could  easily  compass,  where  he  could  give 
to  the  world  a  practical  illustration  of  his  church  system,  and 
find  leisure  to  send  forth,  in  their  most  perfect  form,  the  works 
which  have  made  him  immortal.  Hither,  as  to  an  asylum 
into  which  neither  pope  nor  emperor  dared  to  enter,  exiles 
from  all  Christendom  flocked  in  crowds.  Here,  in  this  little 
republic,  they  heard  the  truth  set  forth  in  its  clearest  light ; 
they  saw  the  primitive  Church  revived,  and  flourishing  in  its 
original  order  and  purity.  To  France,  to  Germany,  to  Hol- 
land, to  England,  to  Scotland,  they  carried  back  principles 
which,  planted  all  over  these  lands,  have  brought  forth  pre- 
cious fruits. 

Thus,  the  time  when  Calvin  rose,  and  the  position  which 
he  occupied,  were  just  those  in  which  his  true  greatness  could 
be  most  fully  developed,  and  his  influence  spread  abroad  most 
widely  over  the  Christian  world.  He  was  not  like  one  born 
out  of  time.  The  age  waited  for  him  ;  the  Church  was  ripe 
for  his  mission  ;  the  hand  of  God  guided  him  to  just  that 
spot  from  which  he  could  speak,  and  where  he  could  labor 
with  the  greatest  success. 

We  do  not  pronounce  upon  this  man  an  unqualified  eulo- 


JOHN     CALVIN.  331) 

gium.  All  great  men  have  their  weaknesses,  then-  defects, 
their  errors.  No  man  has  ever  perfectly  emancipated  him- 
self from  the  evil  habits  of  his  own  time ;  nor  has  any  one, 
in  whom  great  talents  and  great  passions  dwelt,  when  called 
to  show  those  talents  on  a  lofty  stage,  succeeded  in  wholly 
repressing  the  evil  influence  of  an  imperfectly  sanctified  heart. 
Unlike  many  who  have  acted  a  great  part  in  history,  Calvin's 
defects  and  errors  fell  away  from  him  ;  while  the  learning, 
the  genius,  the  piety,  the  wealth  of  thought,  remain  to  illu- 
minate and  bless  the  world.  We  care  not  to  detect  the  spots 
on  the  sun.  We  are  not  concerned  to  count  the  thorns 
around  the  stem  of  the  flower  whose  beauty  and  fragrance 
delight  us.  We  behold  in  him  a  man  of  extraordinary  pow- 
ers, of  wonderful  affluence  of  thought,  of  singular  devotion  to 
the  will  of  God.  We  recognize  him  as  one  elevated  by  a 
divine  hand  to  a  position  in  which  he  labored  with  sublime 
energy  and  devotion  for  the  salvation  of  his  fellow-men.  He 
loves  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  knows  no  joy  so  great 
as  that  inspired  by  the  work  of  making  that  truth  known  to 
dying  men.  He  renounces  wealth  and  home  for  the  sake  of 
Christ.  Engaged  in  a  glorious  movement  that  has  but  one 
end,  the  emancipation  of  souls  from  the  bondage  of  ignorance 
and  sin,  he  knows  no  ease,  he  counts  no  'toil  too  great  that 
aids  in  eflecting  this  object.  Fond  of  retirement,  he  obeys 
his  conscience  and  mingles  in  the  cares  and  perplexities  of 
public  life.  A  student  in  all  his  habits,  he  yet  engages  in 
the  difficult  and  annoying  work  of  managing  a  rude  multi- 
tude, and  disciplining  into  order  a  church  almost  hopelessly 
ignorant  and  corrupt ;  complying  and  gentle  to  all  who  seem 
to  love  the  Saviour — longing  and  praying,  above  all  the  men 
of  his  time,  for  the  union  of  Christians  in  the  bond  of  peace — 
he  was  called  to  fight  with  beasts  in  human  form,  whose 
malignant  assaults  threatened  utter  ruin  to  the  ark  of  Grod. 
To  him  this  land  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  it  can  never  pay. 
He  lives  among  us  in  Church  and  State.  In  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  Church  from  all  forms  of  spiritual  despotism,  and 
the  State  from  all  the  tyrannies  that  crush  men  into  the  dust 


340        HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

— the  principles  which  he  put  forth  have  akeady  borne,  and 
are  destined  in  the  future,  still  to  bear,  a  glorious  part.  We 
thank  God  that  such  a  man  lived  just  when  and  where  he 
did.  Among  all  the  great  men  of  the  past — the  men  who 
have  exerted  the  most  extensive  influence,  for  the  longest 
time,  with  the  noblest  effects,  history  knows  not  his  supe- 
rior. 


X. 

WILLIAM    PENN.* 

William  Penn  was  born  in  London,  October  14,  1644. 
His  father  was  Admiral  Sir  WilKain  Penn,  a  man  greatly- 
distinguished  as  a  naval  officer,  both  under  Cromwell  and 
Charles  II.  Living  apart  from  the  civil  convulsions  of  his  age, 
devoting  himself  with  ardor  to  his  own  profession,  he  not  only 
gained  celebrity,  but  the  honors  of  knighthood.  The  old 
sailor,  reposing  from  the  toils  of  his  rough  profession,  upon 
the  laurels  so  bravely  won  at  the  conquest  of  Jamaica,  and 
in  that  terrible  conflict  with  the  Dutch  fleet  at  Opsdam,  in 
1665,  remained  until  his  death  a  favorite  at  the  court  of 
Charles. 

His  only  son,  WilUam,  springing  from  so  goodly  a  stock, 
was  destined  by  his  father  for  civil  life,  in  the  expectation  of 
a  rapid  advancement  and  a  brilliant  career.  This  expectation 
was  disappointed ;  although  that  son  in  the  end  has  attained 
a  name  and  a  fame  surpassing  the  highest  wishes  of  his  fond 
parent.  In  pursuance  of  this  design,  he  gave  to  William  the 
best  education  the  kingdom  afforded.  After  studying  under 
teachers  of  eminence  at  Chigwell  and  Tower  Hill,  he  was 
entered  at  Christ's  Church  College,  Oxford,  in  his  fifteenth 
year.  Here  he  numbered  among  his  associates  the  famous 
John  Locke,  with  whom  we  shall  find  his  name  associated  in 
after  life.  He  devoted  himself  to  his  studies,  until  the  occur- 
rence of  an  event,  which,  while  it  led  to  his  expulsion,  ex- 
erted a  most  important  influence  upon  his  future  course. 
While  at  school  he  had  been  the  subject  of  religious  im- 

*  A  lecture  delivered  before  the  Mercantile  Library  Aflsociation  of  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  December  7,  1847. 


342     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

pressions,  which  at  this  time  were  greatly  deepened  by  the 
preaching  of  an  Oxford  layman,  Thomas  Loe,  a  Friend.  Soon 
after  the  restoration  of  Charles  the  Second,  an  order  came 
down  to  Oxford  requiring  the  students  to  wear  the  surplice — 
an  old  custom  which  the  scepter  of  the  Puritans  had  swept 
away.  The  usage  was  offensive  to  Penn  and  his  associates, 
among  whom  was  the  afterwards  celebrated  Robert  Spencer, 
Earl  of  Sunderland.  Between  these  friends,  an  attack  was 
})lanned  upon  the  newly-robed  colh^gians  ;  in  the  execution 
of  which  they  rushed  upon  them  and  tore  their  surplices  over 
their  heads.  Here  at  least  is  something  thus  early  developed 
in  this  college  boy,  out  of  which  subsequently  came  forth  the 
full-blown  Quaker  Confessor.  Oxford,  however,  was  not  the 
place  for  such  exhibitions,  and  the  college  authorities  soon 
cooled  the  ardor  of  this  surplice-rending  sjjirit  by  an  edict  of 
expulsion. 

The  admiral,  vexed  at  the  dishonor  cast  upon  his  name, 
and  fearful  that  his  son's  religious  feelings  would  interfere 
with  his  success  in  civil  life,  sends  him  to  France.  He  re- 
sides for  a  short  time  in  Paris,  and  spends  part  of  the  years 
1662  and  1663  with  Moses  Amyrault,  a  Huguenot  professor 
of  divinity  at  Saumur,  a  man  whose  reputation  filled  all 
France,  alike  eminent  for  his  piety  and  his  ability  as  teacher 
of  theology.  To  this  noble  man  much  of  Penn's  mental  disci- 
pline and  theological  acquisitions  are  undoubtedly  due.  Here 
he  gained  that  familiarity  with  the  early  Christian  writers, 
which  contributed  essentially  to  his  success  in  the  subsequent 
conflicts  of  life.  He  returned  to  his  father's  house  in  1664, 
polished  in  manners,  familiar  with  several  modern  languages, 
with  a  mind  enlarged  by  communion  with  foreign  society,  yet 
with  his  religious  feelings  still  unchanged. 

Thus  prepared,  he  entered  a  student  of  law  at  Lincoln's 
Inn,  from  which  he  was  driven  by  the  plague,  which  raged  in 
London  during  the  year  1665.  In  the  course  of  the  next 
year  his  father  sent  him  to  Ireland,  for  the  double  purpose  of 
taking  charge  of  his  estates  on  that  island,  and  by  introduc- 
ing him  into  the  light  and  gay  court  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant, 


WILLIAM     PENN.  343 

Duke  of  Ormond,  of  breaking  up  his  son's  religious  associa- 
tions, and  restoring  his  love  for  scenes  of  gayety  and  splendor. 
In  this  latter  object  he  is  singularly  foiled.  For  William, 
while  on  business  at  Cork,  accidentally  met  with  the  Quaker 
layman,  the  veritable  Thomas  Loe,  whose  preaching  at  Ox- 
ford several  years  before  had  so  much  affected  his  mind.  He 
heard  him  preach  again,  on  this  theme — "  There  is  a  faith 
which  overcomes  the  world,  and  there  is  a  faith  which  is 
overcome  by  the  world."  That  sermon  makes  William  Penn 
a  Friend  for  life.  This  event  occurred  in  1666,  when  he  was 
twenty-two  years  old.  He  is  soon  recalled  by  his  father,  re- 
fuses even  to  take  off  his  hat  in  his  presence,  or  yield  in  the 
least  to  his  parent's  desire  that  he  would  conform  to  the 
manner  of  "  courtly  people,"  until  the  stern  old  sailor,  exas- 
perated by  his  firmness,  indignantly  expels  his  only  child 
from  his  house.  But  though  cast  out,  he  is  not  forsaken. 
Kind  friends  ministered  to  him,  a  mother's  love  still  em- 
braced him,  and  a  mother's  hand  relieved  his  wants. 

While  under  this  cloud  at  home,  he  first  appears  as  a 
preacher  and  an  author.  The  man  who  could  suffer  such 
domestic  trials  for  conscience'  sake,  was  not  made  to  be  an 
idle  member  of  the  church  he  had  espoused.  In  his  twenty- 
fourth  year,  with  no  small  discipline  of  mind  and  heart,  he 
appears  boldly  before  the  world  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  his 
sect ;  and  from  this  time,  until  disease  paralyzed  his  frame, 
he  ceased  not,  with  his  tongue  and  pen,  to  advocate  the 
cause  of  religious  truth  in  the  guise  of  Quakerism.  We  now 
find  him  preaching  from  place  to  place  ;  here  disputing  with 
Presbyterians,  Independents  and  Episcopalians,  and  there 
composing  tract  after  tract  in  defense  of  what  he  regarded  as 
truth.  For  one  of  these  publications,  directed  against  the 
popular  notions  of  the  Trinity,  he  is  arrested  and  thrown  into 
the  Tower,  where,  during  a  stay  of  seven  months,  besides 
other  works,  he  wrote  his  "  No  Cross,  no  Crown,"  the  only 
literary  production  of  his  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  that 
has  had  much  popularity  out  of  his  own  denomination,  and 
has  survived  till  this  day. 


344     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

Released  by  the  intercession  of  the  Duke  of  York,  we  next 
see  him,  in  1699,  at  the  bedside  of  his  friend,  Thomas  Loe  ; 
and  soon  after  a  joyful  reconciliation  is  effected  with  his 
father,  and  he  returns  to  reside  beneath  the  parental  roof 
The  next  year  is  remarkable  for  his  famous  trial  at  the  Old 
Bailey,  of  which  I  propose  to  say  something  in  the  sequel. 
He  is  acquitted,  and  although  committed  to  Newgate  on  ac- 
count of  fines,  which  he  was  conscientiously  opposed  to  pay- 
ing, he  is  soon  liberated.  He  returned  home,  to  witness  the 
decline  of  his  esteemed  father,  and  close  that  parent's  eyes  in 
death.  He  at  once  succeeded  to  the  estate,  worth  some  £1,500 
a  year.  But  the  acquisition  of  so  considerable  a  fortune  does 
not  in  the  least  abate  his  religious  ardor.  With  a  zeal  mount- 
ing up  to  enthusiasm,  he  continued  to  write  and  preach.  He 
issues  a  work  in  defense  of  the  liberties  of  British  subjects  ; 
disputes  with  the  Baptists  respecting  the  universality  of  the 
divine  light ;  writes  a  "  caveat"  against  Popery ;  and  is 
finally  committed  a  second  time  to  Newgate,  for  refusing  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  On  his  release  he  traveled  in 
Holland  and  Germany,  and  returning  in  1672,  marries  Guli- 
elma  Maria  Springett,  the  daughter  of  Sir  William  Spring- 
ett,  a  lady  of  distinguished  personal  beauty,  and  many  noble 
qualities.  For  several  years  his  life  was  a  scene  of  incessant 
labor  in  behalf  of  the  persecuted  people  of  his  own  faith. 
They  were  years  of  stern  oppression,  when  the  vials  of  wrath 
were  poured  out  upon  them  even  more  copiously  than  upon 
other  Dissenters.  Penn  therefore  wrote  much  in  favor  of 
toleration;  and  by  his  interest  with  the  Duke  of  York  res- 
cued multitudes  from  prison. 

In  1675  he  disputes  with  Richard  Baxter,  and  by  a  mere 
accident  becomes  a  manager  of  the  colony  of  West  Jersey. 
He  had  been  called  to  arbitrate  between  John  Fenwick  and 
Edward  Byllinge,  respecting  the  half  share  of  New  Jereey, 
held  by  the  former  in  trust  for  the  latter.  This  he  did  so 
successfully,  that  when  Byllinge  soon  after  was  obliged  to 
deliver  over  his  property  in  trust  for  his  creditors,  William 
Penn  was  selected  as  the  very  man  of  all  others  most  compe- 


WILLIAM     PENN.  345 

tent  to  take  charge  of  it.  He  soon  effected  the  division  of 
New  Jersey  into  East  and  West,  drew  up  a  constitution  for 
the  western  half,  and  set  on  foot  extensive  plans  for  securing 
emigration  thither.  To  such  slight  circumstances  is  that 
deep  interest  in  our  western  continent  due,  which  ultimately 
brought  him  to  our  shores,  and  gave  his  name  to  one  of  the 
fairest  of  our  State  sovereignties.  From  this  period,  indeed, 
the  main  current  of  his  life  set  towards  America  ;  to  encour- 
age emigration,  and  guide  the  great  experiment  to  a  prosper- 
ous issue,  constituted  his  chief  toil. 

During  the  year  1677  he  is  moved  by  religious  impulses 
to  travel  a  second  time  through  Holland  and  Germany.  Dur- 
ing the  progress  of  this  journey  he  has  a  memorable  inter- 
view with  Elizabeth,  Princess  Palatine  of  the  Rhine  ;  writes 
to  the  king  of  Poland  in  favor  of  the  Quakers,  and  we  are 
told,  in  various  places  has  weighty  exercises,  and  much  travail 
in  prayer.  These  visits  to  Gemiany  subsequently  created  a 
large  emigration  from  that  country  to  Pennsylvania,  and  em- 
balmed his  name  as  one  of  the  most  excellent  of  men,  in  the 
hearts  of  multitudes  along  the  Ehine.  For  several  years  from 
this  time  he  is  engaged  on  the  one  hand  in  managing  the 
affairs  of  West  Jersey,  and  on  the  other  in  promoting  the 
interest  of  his  people  in  England.  He  petitions  Parliament 
in  their  behalf ;  speaks  before  select  committees  with  great 
address  ;  writes  treatise  after  treatise  in  favor  of  toleration  ; 
and  has  interviews  with  King  Charles  on  the  same  subject. 
Although  generally  indifferent  to  the  political  contests  of  the 
day,  yet  he  engages  with  all  zeal  in  the  advocacy  of  Algernon 
Sidney's  election,  because  he,  in  common  with  others  not  a 
few,  had  learnt  to  respect  and  love  him  as  a  true  friend  of 
man. 

Shortly  after  this,  that  event  occurred  wliich  has  given 
the  name  and  the  fame  of  William  Penn  ■;'o  America,  and 
enrolled  him  among  the  founders  of  these  independent  com- 
monwealths. The  Government  of  England  was  indebted  to 
his  father  £1,600.     He  solicited  in  payment,  and  received, 


346     HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

the  grant  of  that  entire  region  now  known  as  Pennsylvania.* 
He  soon  published  his  masterly  frame  of  Government ;  emi- 
grants in  crowds  sailed  for  this  new  home  of  freedom,  and 
finally  Penn  himself,  leaving  his  family  behind,  embarked  on 
the  1st  of  September,  1682,  and  about  the  middle  of  October 
following,  landed  in  the  New  World.  Of  the  character  and 
events  of  his  government,  I  propose  to  speak  presently.  It  is 
sufficient  here  to  say,  that  having  instituted  a  government, 
selected  the  site  and  laid  out  the  streets  of  Philadelphia,  and 
negotiated  important  treaties  with  the  Indians,  he  sailed  for 
England  on  the  12th  of  August,  1684.  His  return  was  accel- 
erated by  the  dreadful  persecution  to  which  the  Friends  were 
again  exposed,  under  a  government  bent  on  utterly  crushing 
the  spirit  of  non-conformity. 

Scarcely  had  he  landed,  before  that  congeries  of  wit,  prof- 
ligacy and  hypocrisy,  Charles  the  Second,  died.  The  Duke 
of  York,  with  the  title  of  James  the  Second,  succeeded  to 
the  vacant  throne.  With  this  prince,  Admiral  Su*  William 
Penn  had  been  very  intimate,  and  on  his  death-bed  com- 
mended his  son  to  his  guardianship.  And  it  is  due  to  the 
character  of  this  unfortunate  personage  to  say,  that  in  this 
instance  he  was  true  to  the  memory  of  his  friend,  although, 
as  the  result  proved,  his  friendship  was  more  malignant  in  its 
influence  upon  the  fortunes  of  Penn,  than  his  indifference  or 
his  hostility.  Penn  cultivated  the  fiiendship  thus  within  uis 
reach,  removed  his  residence  near  the  person  of  the  king,  in- 
terceded for  many  of  the  oppressed,  and  enjoyed  the  pleasure 
of  securing  the  recall  from  Holland  of  his  old  college  friend, 
John  Locke,  whither  he  had  fled  to  avoid  persecution  for  his 
opposition  to  arbitrary  power.  Yet  this  intimacy  with  a 
monarch  so  bigoted  and  despotic,  drew  upon  him  suspicious 
eyes.  The  cry  of  Papist  and  Jesuit  was  uttered  against  him, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  resort  to  the  press  to  defend  himself 
against  these  attacks. 

During  the  brief  and  ignominious  reign  of  James,  he  re- 

*  The  name  selected  by  Penn  was  ''Sylvania,"  but  Charles,  much  against 
Penn's  wishes,  declared  it  should  be  "  Pcnn-sylvania." 


WILLIAM      PENN.  347 

mained  by  his  side,  with  the  intention,  doubtless,  of  benefit- 
ing thereby  the  persecuted  of  his  denomination.  On  the 
election  of  William  and  Mary,  in  1688,  Penn  began  to  reap 
the  fruits  of  his  intimacy  with  the  dethroned  monarch.  He 
found  himself  not  only  in  disgrace  at  court,  but  in  great 
danger  from  the  portion  of  a  coiTespondence  he  had  carried 
on  with  the  exiled  James.  He  is  forced  into  retirement  for 
several  years.  In  1693  a  double  calamity  fell  upon  him. 
William  deprives  him  of  his  government  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  his  amiable  and  accomplished  wife  is  removed  from  his 
arms  by  death.  In  addition  to  these  sad  trials,  his  own  so- 
ciety turned  against  him,  for  one,  among  other  reasons,  that 
he  mingled  too  freely  in  political  life  ;  and  thus  his  foes  were 
emphatically  those  of  his  own  religious  household,  for  whom 
he  had  suffered  persecution,  and  undergone  prodigious  toil. 
Meanwhile  he  abides  quietly  at  home,  instructing  his  mother- 
less children,  and  submitting  himself  to  the  wise  chastisement 
of  his  God.  In  1694  the  tide  of  his  prosperity  began  to  re- 
turn. He  is  reconciled  to  the  Quakers,  and  restored  to  his 
government.  Two  years  subsequently  he  marries  Hannah, 
the  daughter  of  Thomas  Callowhill  of  Bristol,  and  buries  his 
eldest  son,  a  young  man  of  great  promise.  In  September,  '99, 
accompanied  by  his  family,  he  embarked  on  his  second  voyage 
to  America,  and  arrived  here  the  last  day  of  November. 

For  two  years  he  remained  with  his  colony,  superintending 
its  affairs,  renewing  treaties  with  the  Indians,  and  effecting 
among  his  own  society  the  passage  of  resolutions  for  the  in- 
struction and  elevation  of  the  negroes.  At  the  close  of  this 
period,  he  is  recalled  to  England,  by  the  efforts  then  made  to 
disjiossess  tlie  proprietaries  of  their  governments.  Amid  the 
tears  of  his  peo])le  and  the  sorrow  of  his  poor  Indian  allies, 
he  left  us,  never  to  return.  There  is  little  worthy  of  special 
notice  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Under  the  quiet  reign 
of  Queen  Anne,  he  employed  his  mind  chiefly  in  colonial 
affairs,  until  in  1712  his  powers  were  much  impaired  by  a  fit 
of  apoplexy.  From  this  period  he  gradually  declined  in  health, 
and  on  the  30th  of  July,  1718,  he  died. 


348     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

From  this  Imrried  sketch,  let  us  turn  to  a  few  of  the 
points  in  the  life  and  character  of  this  extraordinary  man,  the 
discussion  of  which  will  bring  him  and  his  age  more  prom- 
inently before  us.  I  say  "  his  age,"  for  it  is  just,  and  funda- 
mental to  an  enlightened  estimate  of  the  past,  that  we  trans- 
port ourselves  back  to  their  times,  and  view  them  as  they 
stood  related  to  their  own  age.  To  judge  them  by  the  pres- 
ent, is  either  to  deny  that  society  has  been  at  all  profited  by 
their  discoveries,  investigations,  or  elaborate  productions,  or 
to  refuse  them  the  benefit  of  a  rule  created  by  the  very  prog- 
ress of  the  human  mind,  and  essential  to  our  own  vindication 
before  the  tribunal  of  the  future  generations.  Judged  by  the 
present,  in  what  niche  would  the  master-spirits  of  the  past — 
the  Bacons,  Newtons,  Aristotles,  be  placed  ?  A  child  now 
masters  truth  that  once  taxed  the  strongest  intellects.  The 
theory  of  gravitation  is  familiar  to  school  boys  now ;  but 
there  was  a  time  when  the  discovery  of  it  constituted  a  pro- 
digious advance  in  human  science.  Minds  of  very  limited 
endowments  now  penetrate  millions  of  miles  further  into  the 
heavens  than  did  Copernicus  ;  but  there  was  a  time  when,  to 
detect  the  orbit  of  a  planet,  and  suggest  the  revolution  of  the 
earth,  was  a  new  and  brilliant  revelation.  If  this  is  true  in 
natural  science,  it  is  equally  true  in  moral  and  civil  science. 
The  noblest  men  the  past  has  produced,  judged  by  the  pres- 
ent, would  sink  into  contempt.  They  have  labored  to  lift 
men  up  to  their  platform,  and  prepare  them  to  rise  beyond  it. 
And  it  is  the  noblest  tribute  to  these  worthies,  that  many  of 
their  opinions,  then  novel,  have  worked  their  way  into  the 
mind  of  nations,  and  become  the  proud  vantage  ground  of 
future  progress.  Who  now  reads  "  Locke  on  Toleration  ?" 
How  few  plod  through  the  "  Novum  Organum  \"  What  has 
become  of  the  "  Rambler  ?"  This  seeming  neglect  is  the 
proudest  triumph  of  these  immortal  authors.  The  millions 
have  been  elevated  to  the  heights  they  reached,  while  to  their 
generation  they  were  standing  in  the  sun.  They  have  lifted 
us,  their  intellectual  children,  to  a  position  of  equality,  from 
which  we  may  easily  rise  to  one  of  superiority  ;  and  he  would 


WILLIAM     PENN.  349 

want  the  good  sense  of  a  child,  who  should  boast  of  himself 
as  taller  intrinsically,  because  he  was  so  placed  relatively  as  to 
command  a  wider  range  of  vision.  It  is  but  just,  therefore, 
for  us,  in  forming  an  estimate  of  Penn,  to  measure  him  by 
his  age,  and  the  men  of  his  times. 

I  shall  speak  of  him  first  as  a  Quaker  Confessor.  The 
period  between  1625,  when  Charles  the  First  ascended  the 
throne  of  Britain,  and  1688,  when  William  and  Mary  reigned 
by  right  of  parliamentary  election,  is  the  most  memorable  in 
the  history  of  England.  The  gi-eat  religious  Eeformation  had 
been  slowly  working  for  a  century  in  tlia-t  island.  The  Word 
of  God,  now  fully  translated  in  that  old  Saxon  garb  which 
it  still  wears,  had  jjenetrated  the  masses,  and  elicited  a  vast 
amount  of  mental  power.  Under  this  sublime  process  of  dis- 
cipline, minds  were  developing  that  were  soon  to  reveal  them- 
selves as  the  Anaks  of  that  age.  There  was  opened  an  original 
continent  of  thought,  as  fresh,  as  exhilarating,  as  if  that  book 
itself  had  just  been  revealed.  Under  the  darkness  of  the  mid- 
dle ages,  before  the  Press  and  the  Eeformation  had  given  this 
volume  to  the  people,  men  groped  with  lanterns  and  torches 
over  the  world  ;  now  the  sun  shone  out,  and  they  traversed 
kingdoms,  ascended  mountains,  sailed  over  oceans,  everywhere 
mapping  down  the  great  features  of  truth  for  all  future  time. 
As  the  discovery  of  this  New  World  gave  wonderful  enlarge- 
ment, stimulus,  and  activity  to  the  human  mind,  overturn- 
ing ancient  theories,  revolutionizing  commerce,  awakening  an 
amazing  spirit  of  enterprise,  and  carrying  its  reforming  en- 
ergy into  social  and  civil  life  ;  so  did  the  Bible,  when  thus 
brought  in  contact  with  society,  work  with  surpassing  energy 
all  through  it,  affecting,  not  merely  the  religious,  but  also  the 
social,  the  civil,  the  commercial  world. 

And  yet,  just  at  this  period,  the  nation  was  cursed  with 
rulers  utterly  unable  to  understand  the  mighty  workings  of 
the  popular  mind.  The  Stuarts  were  in  the  main  destitute 
of  that  kingly  prescience,  the  noblest  mental  endowment  of  a 
true  statesman,  which,  through  a  comprehension  of  the  pres- 
ent, anticipates  the  future  and  provides  for  it.     They  knew 


350      HISTORICAL     r)ISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

not  man,  least  of  all  their  own  people.  Ascending  the  throne 
in  the  person  of  a  foolish  jDedant,  they  left  it  in  that  of  a  blind 
higot.  They  attempted  to  arrest,  when  they  should  have  di- 
rected ;  to  repress  utterly,  when  they  should  have  guided  the 
movement  toward  freedom.  But  the  spring  had  come  ;  the 
fountains  were  full ;  the  snows  of  a  long  winter  were  dissolv- 
ing ;  the  impetuous  stream  swelled  below,  and  chafed  against 
the  incumbent  ice,  until  at  length  it  rent  its  massive  chains 
with  a  voice  of  thunder,  and  down  swept  the  broken  frag- 
ments toward  the  sea.  For  a  time  these  waters  were  arrested 
under  Charles  and  James.  They  piled  the  ice  barrier  high 
above  and  deep  below  ;  but  the  angry  river  was  not  thus  to 
be  restrained.  A  part,  sweeping  off  laterally,  poured  itself 
upon  this  continent,  and  spread  fertility  over  rising  States ; 
but  the  great  stream  wrought  and  bored  until  it  channeled 
an  outlet,  swept  away  that  lofty  barrier,  and  moved  on  tri- 
umphantly. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  popular  commotion  that 
Quakerism  arose.  About  the  time  of  the  beheading  of 
Charles  the  First,  George  Fox  made  his  appearance.  He  was 
the  great  original  of  his  people,  the  primal  spring  of  their 
history.  To  him  it  was  revealed  that,  instead  of  depending 
on  external  teaching,  men  were  to  listen  to  the  responses  of 
an  inner  oracle,  and  consult  the  Spirit,  the  living  light  that 
ever  shed  its  radiance  around  and  within  the  soul.  This 
inner  light  is  the  great  princij)le  of  this  denomination. 
Human  teachings,  even  Scripture  itself  although  inspired, 
are  only  coordinate — supplementary,  but  not  absolutel}^  es- 
sential. Hence  a  learned  ministry  was  useless.  Thee  and 
THOU  were  the  proper  terms  of  address.  Taking  off  the  hat 
was  a  show  of  courtesy  utterly  worldly,  and  might  induce 
hypocrisy.  Oaths  were  of  no  consequence  ;  for  if  a  man 
would  not  keep  his  word,  would  an  oath  bind  him  ?  These 
and  other  tilings  like  them  constituted  their  original,  apparent 
and  permanent  peculiarities. 

But  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  these  things  alone  consti- 
tuted the  vital  force  and  inward  life  of  this  society.     They 


WILLIAM      PENN.  351 

were  only  the  external  signs  of  that  which  originated  and 
sustained  such  a  body  of  men,  so  distinct  and  peculiar.  The 
original  essence  of  Quakerism  was  an  intense  spiritualism. 
In  common  with  multitudes  in  that  age,  on  whom  the  Bible 
had  shone,  they  sought  for  a  worship  more  spiritual  tlian  that 
which  for  centuries  had  enchained  the  Christian  world.  They 
fled  away  from  cumbrous  rites,  from  gorgeous  ceremonies, 
from  a  ghttering,  icy  formalism  ;  from  a  power  which,  in 
their  view,  usurj)ing  the  throne  of  devotion,  had  converted 
worship  into  mummery,  and  the  minister  into  a  chattering 
priest,  which,  intruding  within  the  social  circle,  had  cor- 
rupted the  simplicity  of  manners  ;  coined  artificial  modes  of 
speech,  like  the  gilding  of  base  metal,  to  give  currency  to 
worthlessness  ;  and  installed  as  supreme  dictator  in  the  seat 
of  Conscience  and  Jehovah  the  capricious  goddess  of  Fashion. 
Outstripping  the  Puritans,  who  sought  here  for  a  qualified 
mean,  they  took  refuge  in  a  system  of  worship  and  life,  from 
which  all 'the  attractions  of /orw  were  totally  excluded — in 
which  silent  connnunion  with  God,  or  spontaneous  ofierings 
of  prayer  and  exhortation  should  exclude  all  prescribed  rit- 
uals. They  had  seen  the  world  enchanted  by  the  outward,  to 
the  utter  neglect  of  the  inward  life  of  religion.  They  distrusted 
a  thing  that  had  power  to  put  aside  the  noblest  interests  of 
the  life  to  come  ;  that  under  the  guise  of  devotion  converted 
men  into  parrots,  and  under  the  plea  of  refinement  of  manners, 
turned  society  into  a  playhouse  for  apes  and  monkeys.  They 
proclaimed  war  against  it.  In  the  stern  simplicity  of  their 
churches  and  dwellings,  in  the  total  absence  of  all  form  in  the 
conduct  of  their  worship,  in  the  directness  of  their  speech,  in 
their  refusal  to  conform  their  dress  to  the  caprices  of  fashion, 
and  the  consequent  preservation  for  generations  of  the  cos- 
tume of  the  seventeenth  century,  they  gave  their  testimony 
against  the  idol  that  had  enslaved  the  world.  This  thirst  for 
the  truly  spiritual  in  religion,  this  desire  for  sincerity  in  the 
intercom-se  of  life,  this  earnest  resolve  to  shake  otf  the  yoke  of 
hypocrisy,  will  at  once  reveal  to  us  the  secret  of  their  origin, 
their  success  and  their  continuance  ;  it  will  suggest  to  us  one 


352      HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

reason  why  this  system  obtained  such  a  mastery  over  a  mind 
so  vigorous  and  well  balanced  as  that  of  William  Penn,  and 
prepare  us  to  do  justice  both  to  their  character  as  a  people, 
and  to  his,  the  most  illustrious  of  them  all. 

It  should  also  be  remarked  that,  in  their  origin,  there  was 
deep  enthusiasm.  The  sect  was  born  amid  most  extraordinary 
convulsions,  in  both  the  State  and  the  Church.  And  it  was  nat- 
ural that  it  should  at  first  partake  of  the  intense  earnestness 
of  the  age.  There  was  much  enacted  then  under  the  impulse 
of  an  inflamed  imagination,  which  the  after  sober  judgment  of 
the  society  rejected.  The  interruption  of  public  worship  by 
violent  outcries,  and  sometimes  by  the  spinning  wheel  and  dis- 
taff imported  into  the  church — the  manner  in  which  individ- 
uals attempted  to  give  an  unmistakable  sign  of  the  nakedness 
of  the  people,  and  other  things  of  a  similar  nature,  were  rather 
an  index  of  the  intense  enthusiasm  of  their  early  life,  than  of 
the  real  character  and  matured  principles  of  the  society.  In 
time,  however,  all  such  offensive  peculiarities  were  either 
modified  or  removed.  The  fearful  persecutions  which  soon 
fell  upon  them  turned  their  attention  from  others  to  them- 
selves.* They  were  harried,  pilloried  and  cast  into  prison. 
Newgate  was  crowded  with  men  and  women,  too  conscien- 
tious to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  or  pay  fines  wrongfully 
imposed.  This  terrible  ordeal  made  them  more  respectful  of 
the  rights  of  others,  and  purged  off  the  dross  of  their  early 
professors. 

Amidst  this  scene  of  wild  licentiousness  in  the  court,  and 
the  mad  revelry  of  persecution  among  the  people  ;  when 
chapels  were  closed,  clergymen  of  piety  and  learning  by  thou- 
sands were  silenced,  informers  lurking  in  every  corner,  and 
green-eyed  suspicion  peering  at  men  through  their  very  win- 
dows ;    when  gluttonous  priests  filled  the  pulpit,  and  the 

*  The  Conventicle  Act  was  passed  in  1664,  and  renewed  in  1670.  Of  this 
infamous  law,  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough  declared  publicly,  that  it  had  done  its 
business  against  all  parties,  except  the  Quakers ;  but  when  the  Parliament  sits 
again,  a  stronger  law  wiU  be  made,  not  only  to  take  away  their  lands  and  goods, 
but  also  io  sell  them  for  bond  slaves. 


WILLIAM     PENN.  353 

monarch  passed  unrebukcd  from  the  chamber  of  his  mistress 
to  the  communion  table,  it  was  not  easy  for  a  mind  laboring 
under  conviction  of  sin  to  hear  truth  adapted  to  its  condition 
and  enjoy  the  instructions  of  faithful  pastors.  And  when 
Penn  heard  the  truth  preached  by  Thomas  Loe,  it  was  a 
grateful  benediction  unexpectedly  bestowed.  The  truth  thus 
heard  sank  into  his  soul,  secured  a  response  from  his  con- 
science, and  a  cordial  embrace  from  his  affections.  He  turned 
disgusted  from  the  splendid  dissoluteness  of  courts,  he  sur- 
rendered prospects  as  bright  for  future  civil  advancement  a,s 
opened  before  any  man  of  his  age  and  rank  ;  he  adopted  the 
sentiments  of  his  teacher  respecting  costume  and  dress  ;  hii 
exiled  himself  from  the  house  of  a  father  he  dearly  loved  ;  he 
endured  imprisonment  and  contempt  with  unflinching  forti- 
tude. Now,  here  are  the  great  elements  of  a  true  confessor. 
To  constitute  such  a  one,  there  must  be  deep  convictions  of 
truth,  a  high  estimate  of  the  importance  of  that  truth,  and  an 
enthusiastic  ardor,  alike  in  suffering  for  and  advancing  its  inter- 
ests. Penn  had  a  deep,  earnest  spirit  which  gathered  strength 
from  opposition  ;  which  obstacles  rendered  more  impetuous  ; 
which  neither  favor  nor  threatening  could  turn  aside  from  the 
chosen  path.  Soon  after  his  conversion  to  Quakerism,  he  is 
imprisoned  for  attending  a  meeting  of  Friends.  A  pardon  is 
offered  him.  He  firmly  refuses  it.  "  Keligion,"  he  says, 
"  which  is  at  once  my  crime  and  my  innocence,  makes  me  a 
prisoner  to  a  mayor's  malice,  but  mine  own  freeman."  He 
meets  his  father.  But  the  ceremony  of  the  hat  he  rejects. 
It  goes  against  his  conscience.  Then  comes  the  struggle  be- 
tween affection  for  his  parent,  reverence  for  his  authority,  and 
the  loss  of  his  inheritance,  on  the  one  side,  and  his  conviction 
of  the  demands  of  religion  on  the  other.  Young  Penn  weeps 
in  agony.  The  stern  yet  kind  old  admiral  entreats,  then 
threatens,  and  at  last  drives  his  only  son  from  his  door.  He 
becomes  a  preacher.  His  energies  seem  to  expand  under  per- 
s6H3ution,  and  he  traverses  the  land  with  the  fire  and  zeal  of  an 
apostle.  He  is  sent  to  the  Tower  for  publisliing  a  heretical 
pamphlet,  and  there  writes  "  No  Cross,  No  Crown  ;"  a  work 

23 


354       HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES    AND     ESSAYS 

by  which  he  will  live  when  his  persecutors  have  passed  into 
oblivion.  He  tells  the  Bishop  of  London,  through  whose  inter- 
ference he  was  imprisoned,  "  that  his  prison  should  be  his  grave 
before  he  would  renounce  his  just  opinion  ;  for  that  he  owed 
his  conscience  to  no  man."  Before  long  he  is  again  arrested 
while  preaching  in  Grace  street,  and  put  on  trial  at  the  "  Old 
Bailey."  This  trial  is  among  the  most  memorable  on  the  rec- 
ords of  that  age,  scarcely  yielding  in  interest  to  that  of  Bax- 
ter. It  will  be  remembered  that  the  incarnation  of  malignancy 
then  occupied  the  chief  seat  of  justice — that  Jeffries,  with  his 
ermine  draggled  in  the  blood  of  non-conformists,  and  wet  with 
the  tears  of  women  and  children,  infused  his  own  fierce  spirit 
into  most  of  the  subordinate  judges.  Under  such  an  adminis- 
tration on  the  bench,  the  courts  of  justice  became  the  vilest 
engines  of  oppression  ;  crimes  ceased  to  be  measured  by  the 
eternal  principles  of  rectitude  ;  justice  bowed  to  the  caj^ricious 
humors  of  ermined  s}^cophants  ;  and  innocence  finding  no  rest 
within  the  temple  of  human  law,  amid  this  wild  sea  of  pas- 
sion could  only  fly  for  refuge  to  the  ark  of  divine  law,  com- 
mending itself  to  a  power  supreme  over  earthly  courts. 
During  this  tiial,  Penn  wishes  to  overthrow  the  indictment 
by  denying  its  legality,  and  demands  the  law  for  it.  The 
recorder  tells  him  it  is  "common  law."  Penn  answers,  "ac- 
cording to  Coke,  common  law  is  common  right,  and  common 
right  is  the  great  charter  privileges  confirmed."  The  recorder 
remarks  that  "  he  is  a  troublesome  fellow,"  and  finally  the 
mayor  cries  out,  "  take  him  away,  turn  him  into  ilie  Bail 
Dock."  The  jury  nobly  acquit  him  in  spite  of  thieats  and 
repeated  attempts  to  starve  them  into  a  difierent  verdict. 
But  the  prisoner  and  the  jury  are  all  fined  for  contempt  of 
court,  and  sent  to  Newgate. 

It  was  amid  such  trials  Penn  exhibited  in  the  early  part  of 
liis  course  the  rugged  virtues  of  the  confessor.  It  was  by  such 
a  discipline  his  intellect  obtained  its  growth,  his  principles 
consistency,  and  his  heart  a  knowledge  of  its  own  workings. 
Nor  was  he  singular  in  this.  The  entire  sect  exhibited  the 
most  amazing  fortitude.     Conscientiously  opposed  to  the  pay- 


WILLIAM     PENN.  355 

ment  of  unjust  fines,  and  the  oath  of  allegiance,  they  became 
peculiarly  obnoxious  to  the  arts  of  informers  and  the  injustice 
of  courts,  without  the  ability  to  avail  themselves  of  those 
means  of  deliverance  which  sometimes  opened  to  those  less 
scrupulous.  They  languished  in  prisons,  they  were  despoiled 
of  property,  they  died  by  hundreds  from  the  infections  of 
dungeons.  If  that  was  an  age  of  gigantic  vice,  it  was  also 
an  age  of  equally  gigantic  virtues  ;  if  that  was  an  age  when 
religion  was  derided,  and  the  scoffer  sat  in  the-  high  places  of 
power,  it  was  also  an  age  when  the  fine  gold  of  Christian  char- 
acter came  forth  from  the  furnace  in  its  most  unsullied  purity. 

But  turning  from  William  Penn  as  a  confessor,  permit 
me,  before  entering  upon  the  discussion  of  that  part  of  his  life 
most  interesting  to  us  as  Americans,  to  say  a  word  respecting 
him  as  a  preacher  and  author.  His  sermons  are  occasionally 
spoken  of  as  full  of  power.  But  if  we  may  judge  from  the  ap 
jDearance  of  the  man  and  his  style  of  writing,  it  seems  to  us 
that  he  must  have  been  more  instructive  than  persuasive- 
better  adapted  to  enlighten  the  mind  and  triumph  in  its  con- 
victions, than  to  stir  the  heart  by  the  electric  flashes  of  deep 
emotion. 

As  an  author  he  shows  himself  capable  of  excelling  in 
beauty.  But  he  cared  little  for  ornament.  Neither  the  ge- 
nius of  his  faith,  nor  the  rough  controversy  which  raged  about 
him,  inclined  or  permitted  him  to  cultivate  the  graces.  His 
mind  was  more  Eoman  than  Greek,  and  his  works  show 
rather  the  massive  thought  and  simple  earnestness  of  the  for- 
mer, than  the  elaborate  beauty  and  exquisite  finish  of  the  lat- 
ter. With  a  perspicacious  genius  that  grasped  strongly  and 
saw  clearly,  he  could  set  his  thoughts  forth  vividly  and  logic- 
ally. Far  from  being  a  profound  metaphysician,  he  yet  rose 
to  distinguished  excellence  as  a  popular  reasoner.  And 
though  no  match  for  the  'dialectics  and  theological  acumen 
of  Baxter,  ho  displays  on  the  more  general  subjects  that  agi- 
tated the  age,  a  reach  of  thought,  a  practical  sagacity  that  re- 
minds you  of  Franklin,  with  this  great  excellence  above  the 
philosopher,  of  a  vastly  more  elevated  tone  of  religious  feel- 


356         HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

ing.  His  writings  are  voluminous.  He  sent  forth  pamphlet 
after  pamphlet  on  the  great  questions  that  then  absorhed  the 
attention  of  his  own  people,  and  to  some  extent  stirred  the 
heart  of  Christendom.  Those  controversial  works,  jjopular 
indeed  among  his  own  society,  are  mainl}'-  unknown  beyond 
it.  Designed  for  that  age  and  the  controversies  of  that  day, 
it  is  impossible  to  reinvest  them  with  tlieh  original  interest. 
His  work,  however,  "  No  Cross,  No  Crown,"  to  which  allu- 
sion has  been  made,  has  been  destined  to  a  longer  life,  a  wider 
influence,  as  it  embraces  subjects  of  jiermancnt  interest  to 
mankind  in  eveiy  stage  of  his  progress.  His  writings  on  the 
"  Liberties  of  Englishmen,"  and  on  "  English  Toleration," 
although  admirable  of  their  kind,  have  been  cast  into  the 
shade  with  other  similar  works  of  genius,  by  the  light  of  that 
"  holy  experiment,"  which  in  this  land  has  had  its  successful 
trial. 

Certain  it  is,  however,  that  the  society  of  Friends,  at  that 
time,  needed  just  such  a  sagacious,  common-sense  mind,  and 
that  he  acquired,  and  for  years  wielded  among  them,  a  most 
salutary,  as  well  as  a  far-extended  influence.  Fox,  the  origi- 
nal, the  personification  of  Quakerism,  was  the  man  whose 
clarion  roused  the  slumbering  people,  whose  fervid  eloquence 
won  over  the  multitude.  Penn  arose  to  give  consistency  to 
their  opinions  ;  to  rear  ramparts  around  their  citadel  ;  to 
exhibit  with  logical  strength  and  no  small  show  of  learning, 
the  foundations  of  their  faith.  If  Fox  raised  the  recruits,  and 
kindled  their  zeal,  Penn  organized  and  disciplined  them  into 
a  regular  army.  If  Fox  was  the  head,  Penn  was  the  light, 
so  that  without  them  both,  there  would  have  been  no  perfect- 
ness.  This  was  the  great  service  he  rendered  to  Quakerism, 
and  for  this  she  cherishes  his  name  among  the  noblest  of  her 
worthies,  and  the  most  potent  of  her  men  of  might. 

AVe  come  now  to  consider  Penn  as  the  founder  of  a  colony, 
and  its  first  statesman.  It  was  fortunate  for  our  country  and 
the  world  that  this  continent  had  so  early  a  discovery.  Dur- 
ing the  period  intervening  between  this  event,  and  the  com- 
mencement of  those  troubles  in  England  which  produced  the 


WILLIAM     PENN.  357 

great  Kevolution,  adventurous  spirits  had  surveyed  much  of 
its  coast,  entered  its  harbore  and  rivers,  and  diffused  abroad 
a  fair  knowledge  of  its  character.  The  wild  dreams  of  the 
speculator,  the  enchanting  visions  of  a  western  Eldorado  that 
stirred  the  breasts  and  led  captive  the  imaginations  of  the 
first  discoverers,  had  given  place  to  the  sober  views  of  truth. 
Then  as  that  great  conflict  advanced,  this  land  opened  itself 
as  a  secure  theater  for  the  working  out  of  those  principles 
which  then  heaved  the  foundations  of  society,  and  shook 
down  many  of  its  proudest  columns.  Opinions  in  the  father- 
land were  all  in  chaos  ;  men  knew  not  what  they  most 
needed,  or  knowing  this,  could  not  see  an  open  pathway  to 
its  accomplishment.  There  the  growth  of  those  great  princi- 
ples which  had  taken  root  in  multitudes  of  minds,  was  re- 
pressed by  ancient  forms,  by  a  lordly  hierarchy,  by  rich  nobles, 
by  the  deep  loyalty  to  royal  government,  generated  by  ages. 
But  here  the  way  was  open.  The  field  was  new.  Men  must 
create  governments  for  themselves.  The  parent  government 
was  too  distant,  and  for  a  time  too  indifferent,  to  affect  them 
deeply.  Loyalty  to  royalty,  originally  weakened  by  the  very 
impulses  that  peopled  the  country,  like  the  law  of  gravitation, 
diminished  in  a  geometrical  ratio,  by  distance,  and  the  neces- 
sities of  a  new  world.  And  hence,  unobstructed  by  the  gi- 
gantic power  of  the  past,  the  founders  of  our  colonies  could 
institute  their  great  experiments  in  civil  government,  with  a 
broad  verge  of  liberty  around  them,  in  which  to  correct  in 
the  future  the  mistakes  and  ignorance  of  the  present.  Never 
in  all  time  had  such  a  field  opened  ;  at  such  a  period  ;  to  be 
sown  with  such  seed.  Persecution  is  our  god-father.  Intol- 
erance was  the  best  patron  this  country  has  ever  known  ; 
better  a  thousand  fold  than  the  patronage  of  princes,  and  the 
benedictions  of  kings.  It  sifted  the  noblest  sons  of  France 
upon  our  shores  ;  it  gave  us  the  honest,  cool,  intellectual 
Gennan  ;  it  drove  hither  the  unbending  magnanimity  of 
Scotland  ;  it  scourged  from  their  own  fair  shore  the  best 
blood  of  the  free  Englishmen  ;  nor  did  it  refuse  us  warm 
hearts  from  the  flist-anchored  isle  of  Erin.     Intolerance,  we 


358         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS, 

bless  thee  for  thy  chains  and  scourge  !  Thou  wert  but  the 
birth  pangs  through  which  a  nation  sprang  into  being — a  na- 
tion, on  whose  future,  as  on  whose  past,  "  excelsior"  is  blaz- 
oned, and  from  whose  expanding  energies,  illustrating  the 
true  sources  of  human  improvement,  the  four  old,  hoary 
continents  may  yet  gather  the  materials  for  national  ren- 
ovation. 

The  idea  of  founding  a  colony,  mainly  for  the  develop- 
ment of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  was  not  peculiar  to  Penn. 
He  followed  in  the  track  of  others.  But  to  him  is  due  the 
conception  of  a  plan  of  government,  in  some  respects  more 
complete  than  any  other  then  known.  When  once  this 
scheme  was  formed,  and  his  charter  secured,  emigrants  came 
in  ci'owds  to  share  in  the  magnificent  enterprise.  The  high 
character  of  Penn  drew  thousands  around  him  from  the  bosom 
of  his  own  persecuted  people,  who  longed,  in  sympathy  with 
him,  to  try  the  experiment  of  a  State  founded  on  such  broad 
Christian  Hberty.  They  flocked  also  in  companies  from  the 
heart  of  Germany,  to  place  themselves  under  the  banner  of  a 
man  Avhose  presence  among  them  in  times  past  had  inspired 
a  respect  alike  for  his  clear,  manly  intellect,  and  his  open. 
Christian  heart.  So  large  indeed  was  this  emigration,  and  so 
regularly  did  the  stream  continue  to  swell  for  many  years  after 
the  first  establishment  of  the  colony,  that  it  became  to  Penn 
a  matter  of  heartfelt  congratulation  that  no  single  person,  in 
the  whole  history  of  English  colonization,  had  planted,  with- 
in the  same  time,  so  large  and  prosperous  a  colony  as  that 
which,  long  ere  his  death,  filled  the  rich  valleys,  and  bordered 
the  noble  rivers  of  Pennsylvania. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  do  even  partial  justice  to  his 
character  as  a  statesman  without  presenting  some  of  the  main 
features  of  his  government.  In  the  forefront  of  his  scheme 
there  was  an  unlimited  toleration  of  religious  opinions.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  remark  here,  that  in  the  early 
ages  of  the  Church  intolerance  raved  and  gnashed  its  teeth  ; 
but  it  was  always  against  the  Christian,  and  by  the  Jew  or 
Pagan.     The   Sanhedrim  launched  its  thunderbolts  against 


WILLIAM     PENN.  359 

the  disciples  ;  Eome's  imperial  eagle  wet  her  claws  in  their 
blood.  Tolerant  of  all  other  opinions,  the  mistress  of  tlie 
world,  like  the  volcanoes  at  her  feet,  for  more  than  two  cen- 
turies vomited  forth,  at  ten  different  periods,  flame  and  lava 
and  ashes  upon  the  peaceful  Christians.  Then  came  a  change, 
Constantine  takes  the  persecuted  to  his  bosom  ;  builds  for 
them  churches  and  cathedrals  ;  instals  Christianity  as  the 
religion  of  the  empire.  But  the  spirit  of  Pagan  Kome  had 
not  ceased'  to  exist.  It  passed  over  into  the  Christian  gov- 
ernment. It  merely  changed  its  costume,  and  soon  revealed 
itself  mighty  for  evil,  both  in  the  acts  of  the  Eastern,  and  in 
time,  in  the  fundamental  code  of  the  Western  church.  Un- 
der these  influences  the  nations  were  educated  for  centuries. 
The  Keformation  did  not  at  once  shed  light  on  this  subject. 
As  it  awakened  thought ;  as  it  burst  the  bands  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal authority  ;  as  it  exalted  the  Bible  above  traditions,  coun- 
cils and  Popes,  translated  and  brought  it  home  to  the  people, 
so  it  scattered  the  seed  which  in  time  should  bring  forth  the 
perfect  fruit  of  toleration,  while,  for  the  time  being,  it  neces- 
sarily modified  the  code  of  persecution,  by  the  very  process  of 
an  enlightened  discussion  of  the  rights  of  conscience,  involved 
in  the  withdrawal  from  the  paganized  usurpation  of  Kome. 
and  the  return  to  the  original  platform  of  apostolic  Christian- 
ity. But  in  the  first  stage  of  the  controversy,  the  more  ob- 
vious, vital,  and  grand  truths  of  revelation  were  the  points 
upon  which  the  deepest  interests  of  the  great  champions  of 
right  centered  ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  right  of  reformation, 
based  upon  the  right  to  hold,  avow  and  practice  the  great 
system  of  saving  truth,  as  revealed  in  the  Bible,  was  settled, 
that  men  gained  the  leisure  to  turn  their  thoughts  upon  the 
consequences  of  the  principles  thus  established. 

It  was  in  the  struggle  of  the  popular  mind,  during  the 
English  Revolution,  that  this  great  element  of  liberty  ex- 
panded and  worked  most  successfully.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  that  struggle  the  spirit  of  intolerance  raged  on  all 
sides.  Romanists,  Episcopalians,  Independents,  Presbyte- 
rians, and  even  the  Quakers,  in  the  first  stage  of  their  history, 


360         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

hetray  scarcely  a  conception  of  this  great  truth.  Even  in 
New  England,  where  the  elements  of  toleration  were  as  gen- 
erously sown  as  anywhere  on  earth,  Williams  and  Hutchin- 
son are  driven  into  exile.  But  as  the  struggle  advances,  and 
parties  change  sides — the  weak  waxing  strong,  and  the  pow- 
erful descending  into  obscure  positions — this  truth  receives 
its  development.  Roger  Williams  first  embraces  the  bright 
idea.  The  principle  is  settled  in  his  clear,  calm  intellect,  and 
Rhode  Island,  years  before  Penn  or  Baltimore  had  seen  Amer- 
ica, gained  the  immortal  honor  of  being  a  State  founded  in 
the  conscientious  conviction  of  the  wickedness  of  intolerance, 
and  the  right  of  man  to  his  own  conscience. 

In  England,  some  of  the  strongest  minds  of  that  age 
grappled  with  the  question.  Locke  wrote  on  it  with  great 
power.  Milton  illumined  it  with  the  splendors  of  his  genius. 
Penn  published  pamphlets  and  volumes  in  favor  of  it.  He 
declares  that  "what  we  ask  we  must  give."  He  traced  the 
opposite  systems  of  tolerance  and  intolerance  down  from  ear- 
liest history,  and  successfully  showed  that  the  States  most 
free  had  been  most  stable.  He  goes  into  an  examination 
of  the  ancient  liberties  of  Britons,  and  declares  that  this  or 
that  sect  of  religion  was  not  specified  in  the  ancient  govern- 
ment. And  when  he  founded  his  colony,  he  resolutely  incor- 
porated these  settled  convictions  into  the  fundamental  frame- 
work of  his  political  system.  Carrying  with  him  the  hearts 
of  multitudes  smarting  under  the  lash  of  conformity,  he  gave 
to  the  world  the  broad  and  full  experiment  of  a  perfect  reli- 
gious liberty.  "••'■"     No  tests,  save  that  of  the  belief  in  the  being 

*  I  have  used  the  term  "  toleration,"  in  tliis  discourse,  in  its  general  and  loose 
signification.  Strictly,  "  toleration"  implies  a  national  church,  a  church  constituted 
by  the  government  as  the  authorized  worship  of  the  people,  and  sustained  by  the 
State.  Thus  England  tolerates  dissenters.  She  tolerates  them  in  refusing  to 
conform  to  the  State  church,  but  oljliges  them  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  that 
church.  But  Penn  went  far  beyond  this ;  he,  at  a  single  stride,  reached  the  very 
position  to  which  the  spirit  of  religious  freedom,  existing  in  all  the  other  States, 
gradually  brought  them.  "With  him,  as  with  us  now  throughout  the  republic, 
the  State  recognized  no  one  ecclesiastical  body  as  privileged  to  be  the  church,  be- 
fore all  others,  nor  did  it  tolerate  any  as  a  kind  of  necessary  evil.     It  recognized 


WILLIAM     PENN.  361 

of  a  God,  barred  men  from  the  highest  offices  of  State.  No 
church,  patronized  by  law,  enjoyed  an  immunity  of  privilege, 
with  authority  to  prey  upon  those  out  of  its  pale  for  subsist- 
ence. Men  worshiped  God,  or  refused  to  worship  him,  with- 
out a  sheriff's  writ  upon  their  backs,  or  an  informer's  eye  up- 
on their  actions.  Wherever  men  chose  to  worship,  they 
reared  their  temples  ;  whenever  they  chose  to  enter  them, 
they  found  no  bristling  bayonets  marshaled  to  prevent  them. 
This  was  the  great  law  of  religious  liberty,  dearer  to  man 
than  even  civil  freedom,  as  the  interests  of  the  life  to  come 
are  inconceivably  more  grand  and  momentous  than  those  of 
this  life.  This  law  was  made  a  chief  column  in  his  political 
fabric.  He  planted  it  so  conspicuouslj^,  so  firmly,  that  noth- 
ing but  revolution  could  wrest  it  from  its  place,  and  prevent 
its  abiding  to  uphold  the  glorious  dome  of  conscience  and  re- 
ligion for  all  time. 

He  did  this  at  a  time  when  Britain  was  convulsed  with  the 
conflict  of  parties,  and  gi'oaning  under  the  rod  of  oppression. 
What  Locke  thought,  Penn  more  than  executed.  What  was 
heresy  to  millions,  he  established  as  a  fundamental  statute  of 
his  government.  At  a  single  stride,  he  took  his  position  be- 
side the  few,  in  advance  of  the  many.  And  for  thus  leading 
the  van  in  this  great  war  with  ecclesiastical  oppression,  he 
will  be  honored  while  men  love  truth  and  value  freedom. 

We  are  next  to  view  Penn  as  giving  to  his  colony  a  large 
degree  of  civil  freedom.  The  constitution,  framed  with  refer- 
ence to  the  wants  of  the  jDeople  at  that  time,  is  certainly  re- 
markable for  the  extent  of  its  political  privileges.  While 
Locke  was  attempting  to  establish  in  Carolina  his  pyramidal 
constitution,  a  system  of  government  reminding  us  of  Oriental 
towers  nineteen  stories  high,  with  its  dozen  orders  of  nobility, 

all  religious  systems  as  deserving  protection,  while  it  conferred  exclusive  priv 
ileges  upon  none.  This  is  the  present  position  of  all  our  States,  and  tliis  is  the 
doctrine  of  freedom  of  conscience.  "Toleration"  and  "dissent,"  therefore,  in 
the  sense  attaclied  to  them  over  the  water,  can  be  used  here  by  no  ecclesiastical 
body,  in  reference  to  another,  without  incurring  the  charge  of  either  surprising 
arrogance,  or  unparalleled  stupidity. 


362      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

its  large  property  franchise,  its  total  exclusion  of  the  masses 
from  the  circle  of  political  control ;  while  the  great  jiliiloso- 
pher  was  elaborating  this  system,  so  as  to  secm'e  power  and 
nobility  for  ever  to  the  few,  Penn  was  proceeding,  on  simj^le 
principles,  to  create  a  legislation  which  should  spring  from 
the  many,  and  have  reference  to  their  largest  good.  As  gov- 
ernor and  proprietor,  he  retained  for  himself  but  a  triple  vote, 
while  he  entirely  surrendered  to  the  people  the  power  of  tax- 
ation ;  the  power,  which  more  than  all  things,  carried  along 
with  it  the  pledge  of  freedom  ;  the  power,  to  gain  which  for 
themselves,  the  colonies  subsequently  poured  out  their  best 
blood  and  treasure. 

That  there  were  defects  in  his  scheme  is  doubtless  true. 
But  for  that  age  it  was  a  work  of  great  perfection.  Its  defects 
were  many  of  them  excellencies  in  the  circumstances  of  that 
people.  Time,  which  tries  and  changes  all  human  products, 
has  left  its  impress  here.  Lifting  us  above  the  state  of  col- 
onies and  territories — the  infancy  and  childhood  of  nations, 
where  in  part  foreign  strength  and  wisdom  must  cooperate 
with  our  own  to  produce  a  perfect  manhood — it  prescribes  for 
us  a  new  political  regimen,  in  harmony  with  our  advanced 
condition.  The  State  lays  aside  the  dress  of  the  territory,  and 
forms  for  itself  one  of  amj)ler  dimensions.  The  colonial  scheme 
of  Penn  was  admirably  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  his 
people.  But  he  went  beyond  the  originating  of  such  a  j^lat- 
fonu  of  government.  It  was  an  evidence  both  of  great  fore- 
cast and  generous  feeling,  that  instead  of  stereotyping  his 
scheme,  and  seeking  to  perpetuate  an  iron  constitution,  into 
which  the  State  should  be  cast,  as  the  metal  in  the  founder's 
matrix,  he  regarded  it  as  a  germ  that,  in  its  development, 
would  rise  into  new  conditions  of  existence,  and  demand  new 
laws  of  life.  He  early  distinguished  between  the  fundamental, 
charter  rights  of  man,  which  no  time  should  abridge,  no  cir- 
cumstances innovate  upon,  and  those  other  parts  of  all  con- 
stitutions which  are  in  their  nature  temporary,  and  may  be 
altered  to  suit  the  advancing  condition  of  the  people. 

Constitutional  reform  is  one  of  the  greatest  privileges  of 


WILLIAM     PENN.  363 

Americans.     Our  civil  governments  are  no  Minervas,  spring- 
ing perfect  from  the  brain  of  the  most  consummate  legislator. 
The  human  mind,  by  nature  limited,  can  comj)ass  only  the 
present,  and  not  even  that  perfectly.    It  can  not  penetrate  far 
into  the  future,  anticipate  the  changes  of  society,  and  so 
frame  an  instrument  that  it  shall  meet  the  wants  of  all  suc- 
ceeding generations.    The  very  fact  that  it  is  the  master-piece 
of  wisdom  for  one  age,  may  render  it  utterly  unsuitable  for 
another.     The  appeal,  therefore,  to  antiquity,  as  the  proof  of 
adaptation  in  a  constitution  to  subsequent  times,  is  not  always 
well  taken.      Antiquity,  indeed,  has  its  noble  uses.      The 
further  into  it  society  sends  the  roots  of  its  organic  life,  with 
greater  power  does  it  usually  grasp  the  minds  of  men,  and 
lift  itself  up  with  a  more  massive  trunk  to  meet  the  storms 
that  sweep  around  it.     Even  the  new  colonial,  or  territorial 
offshoot,  must  begin  at  once  to  lay  hold  of  antiquity,  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  greater  solidity,  a  loftier  life,  a  richer 
foliage,  as  the  progress  of  time  permits  it  to  expand  down- 
wards and  upwards.     Antiquity  thus  gives  a  more  perfect 
organic  life  to  society.     A  new  social  state  necessarily  lacks 
one  important  element  of  power,  consohdation  and  perfectness. 
It  has  nothing  ancient  to  inspire  veneration,  no  past,  with 
its  attractive  associations,  its  thrilling  history,  its  venerable 
presence,  ennobled  by  distance  and  age,  to  create  the  life  of 
patriotism,  and  bind  men  to  their  institutions  and  their  soil 
with  bands  of  steel.     Antiquity,  lifting  the  awful  form  of 
government  above  us,  stays  the  hand  of  inexperience  from 
rude  assaults  ;  rebukes  rash  experiments — sudden,  harsh  and 
ill-timed  changes  ;   teaches  us  that  all  healthful  reforms  in 
the  State  are  slowly  elaborated,  and  that,  in  the  attempt  to 
rend  away  from  the  trunk  too  many  of  its  branches,  gnarled 
and  unproductive  though  they  be,  there  may  be  danger  of 
affecting  for  a  time  the  vigor  and  life  of  government  itself. 
Such  are  the  uses  of  antiquity  in  an  age  of  reform. 

But  while  all  this  is  true,  to  suppose  that  in  addition 
antiquity  consecrates  all  civil  forms  and  laws,  so  as  to  bar 
progress  in  constitutional  legislation,  is,  to  say  the  least,  ab- 


364      HISTOKICAL    DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

surd.  Sucli  a  sentiment  would  eternize  abuses,  repress  de- 
velopment, and  oblige  all  subsequent  generations  to  be  cast 
in  the  iron  mold  of  the  favored  one  that  may  chance  to  have 
stood  at  the  head  of  national  existence.  With  equal  reason 
might  our  first  ancestors  have  fixed  the  costume  of  all  their 
children,  and  skins  formed  the  sole  material  of  dress.  The 
log  cabin  might  as  well  be  perpetuated  by  a  law  of  the  first 
settlers  as  the  architecture  for  all  this  New  World.  There  is 
indeed  a  just  sense  in  which  we  may  legislate  for  the  future, 
for  the  broad,  uprising  millions.  But  it  is  only  by  acting  on 
principles  that  will  lift  them  up  to,  and  open  the  way  for 
their  elevation  above  ourselves. 

Now,  it  is  the  sad  inheritance  of  many  nations  to  possess 
a  government  that  can  not  be  reconstructed  without  revolu- 
tion.    It  is  our  highest  boast,  that  our  constitutions  contain 
within  themselves  the  provision  for  their  renovation.     This 
idea  is  with  us  fundamental.     Law,  constitutional  Law,  is 
our  sovereign.     We  own  no  other  civil  monarch,  we  bow  to 
no  other  scepter.     Amidst  the  collision  of  parties,  the  heat 
of  political  strife,  the  heavings  of  popular  passion,  our  fast- 
anchored  throne,  rising  like  a  light-house  amid  the  breakers, 
is  the  Constitution  and  the  Law.     But  if  that  Constitution 
had  no  provision  for  its  renewal,  and  adaptation  to  each  gen- 
eration ;  if  what  it  is  to  me,  it  must  be  to  my  grand-children, 
amid  altered  circumstances,  when  the  wave  of  population  and 
the  advance  of  society  have  borne  all  things  forward,  then 
does  it  become  in  time  an  hereditary  despotism,  the  more 
fearful  because  it  dies  not,  and  can  only  be  overturned  or 
amended  by  the  fierce  throes  of  revolution.     This  idea,  there- 
fore,  of  constitutional  reform   is  indeed  magnificent,  vast, 
reaching  down  to  the  very  foundation  of  the  organic  life  of 
nations  :  an  idea  baleful !  terrible  !  a  flashing  meteor  driving 
at  their  thrones,  to  all  hereditary  despotisms  ;  but  to  us  not 
the  genius   of  Anarchy  with  its  bloodshot  eye  and  naked 
sword,  but  the  noble  form  of  peaceful  and  law-loving  Free- 
dom.    It  gives  to  each  generation  the  power  of  renewing  its 
organic  law ;  it  sends  down  that  law  itself  to  the  next  gen- 


WILLIAM     PENN.  365 

eration,  not  in  the  condition  of  a  watch  to  bo  wound  up,  nor 
of  a  blind  force  to  be  resisted  at  the  expense  of  blood,  but  of 
a  living  nature,  which,  when  it  reaches  its  manhood,  em- 
bosoms a  provision  for  the  production  of  its  kind — another 
organism  like  itself,  but  shaped  to  meet  the  new  exigencies 
of  society.  With  such  a  constitution,  errors,  defects,  abuses, 
are  all  temporary.  They  may  exist,  but  it  will  not  bo  for  the 
want  of  a  disciplinary  power  to  remove  them.  The  genera- 
tion that  feels  itself  straitened  by  the  action  of  the  past,  has 
its  remedy  at  hand.  By  the  same  peaceful  action  that  legis- 
lates under  constitutions,  it  may  reorganize  its  fundamental 
law,  and  totally  alter  the  entire  frame  of  government. 

It  is  no  small  tribute  to  the  statesmanship  of  Penn,  that 
he  thus  early  distinguished  between  the  temporary  and 
changeable,  and  the  permanent  and  unchangeable.  That, 
while  he  put  religious  freedom  among  the  rights  of  man, 
which  might  be  enlarged,  but  which,  as  jewels  wrenched  from 
the  hand  of  irresponsible  power,  ought  never  to  be  surren- 
dered even  to  the  caprice  of  legislation,  he  still  had  an  eye  on 
the  perfectibility  of  his  system,  and  permitted  his  government 
to  undergo  important  changes  during  his  life.  It  was  neces- 
sary that  he  should  retain  some  2Jrivileges  ;  yet  he  ever  met 
his  colony  in  the  spirit  of  concession,  repeatedly  changing  his 
constitution  to  adapt  it  to  their  condition.  In  this  he  laid 
the  foundation  of  constitutional  reform  ;  although  it  was  not 
given  him  to  see  the  influence  of  this  idea  upon  the  character 
of  a  nation,  and  upon  the  interests  of  liberty  ;  nor  to  behold 
the  future  structures  which,  from  these  beginnings,  have  so 
grown  into  grandeur  and  perfectness  as  to  arrest  the  observa- 
tion of  the  world. 

A  sketch  of  this  great  man  would  be  incomplete  without 
an  allusion  to  his  views  of  that  sad  institution,  which,  grafted 
upon  us  Avhen  we  were  the  connected  offshoots  of  the  parent 
tree,  has  ceased  not  to  gather  about  it  the  anxieties  of  the 
good,  and  to  constitute  an  element  of  deep  political  and  social 
excitement  in  the  heart  of  our  nation.  There  is  undoubtedly 
a  wide  difference  between  the  reception  of  just  principles,  and 


366         HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

their  application  to  all  proper  subjects.  The  principle  may 
be  clear,  while  its  application  may  be  doubtful.  This  dis- 
tinction must  be  admitted  in  morals,  as  the  only  key  to  the 
apparent  inconsistencies  of  the  noblest  men.  And  it  is  per- 
haps true  of  this  age,  that  if  it  has  any  thing  to  boast  over 
our  ancestors,  it  is  in  this  direction — in  the  application  of 
the  jorinciples  they  held  equally  with  us.  On  this  subject, 
Penn,  when  compared  with  his  age,  needs  no  apologist.  Of 
freemen  he  was  foremost.  Embracing  those  great  principles, 
which,  sown  all  over  this  new  world,  in  time  brought  forth 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  Revolution,  and  the 
final  consolidation  of  these  colonies  under  a  republican  form 
of  government,  he  was  behind  none  of  his  cotemporaries,  and 
in  advance  of  most  of  his  age,  in  their  application  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  African  on  American  soil.  He  wisely  com- 
menced his  labors  in  this  field  where  others  often  end  theirs. 
The  religious  instruction  and  general  elevation  of  the  slave 
in  his  own  colony,  greatly  enlisted  his  interest  and  awakened 
his  sympathies.  He  labored  with  great  diligence  to  efiect 
these  objects,  during  his  last  visit  to  this  country.  He  looked 
forward  to  emancipation,  and  so  earnestly  did  he  call  the 
attention  of  his  own  society  to  this  subject,  that  he  may  be 
regarded  as  a  pioneer  in  that  gradual  reform  of  their  dis- 
cipline, in  consequence  of  which,  about  the  close  of  the  Revo- 
lution, this  whole  body  became  disconnected  entirely  from  the 
institution  of  slavery. 

The  principles  and  practice  of  Penn  in  reference  to  peace, 
especially  as  illustrated  in  the  treatment  of  the  aborigines, 
are  worthy  of  our  notice.  We  may  regard  these  principles  as 
an  extreme.  It  seems  difficult  to  understand  why  the  same 
argument  that  forbids  me  to  defend  myself  personally  in  the 
hour  of  extreme  danger,  does  not  equally  restrain  me  from 
defending  myself  by  the  hand  of  a  sheriff ;  why  the  argu- 
ments urged  against  jjersonal  self-defense,  are  not  in  the  end 
equally  good  against  defense  come  from  what  quarter  it  may; 
against,  in  short,  all  laws,  penalties,  and  human  government. 
Yet,  if  these  views  are  an  extreme,  manifestly  they  are  an 


WILLIAM     PENN.  367 

amiable  extreme,  infinitely  more  in  harmony  with  the  spirit 
of  the  gospel  than  the  other  extreme,  of  a  blustering,  inso- 
lent and  fiery  disposition,  that  creates  an  insult  by  suspecting 
it ;  that  resents,  but  never  recants  nor  remits  ;  that  prefers  a 
loaded  pistol  to  a  fraternal  epistle ;  that  makes  a  skillful  mur- 
der demonstration  perfect  of  an  unsullied  honor  ;  that  counts 
war  a  pastime,  and  the  glory  of  arms  the  highest  triumph  and 
prize  of  life.  The  one  spreads  arts,  morality,  religion  through 
the  world  ;  the  other,  by  the  glare  of  burning  villages,  amid 
the  wailing  of  the  widow  and  the  orphan,  builds  its  monu- 
mental pyramids  of  human  skulls  and  cements  them  with 
human  blood.  Ridicule  as  men  may  the  attitude  of  the  non- 
resistant,  there  is  at  the  groundwork  of  the  theory  a  noble 
principle — a  principle  of  implicit  reliance  upon  the  justice 
and  the  providence  of  God,  to  take  part  with  the  innocent, 
and,  in  ways  to  us  inscrutable,  work  out  their  deliverance. 
It  is  the  principle  that  he  who  touches  the  meanest  of  God's 
little  ones  injuriously,  arrays  the  resources  of  an  omnipotent 
and  omniscient  being  against  him  ;  it  is  also  that  other  noble 
principle  of  the  gospel,  that  love,  as  it  worketh  no  ill  to  our 
neighbor,  so  it  doth  mightily  tend  to  disarm  revenge  of  its 
purpose,  and  turn  back  the  sword  of  malice  into  its  own 
bosom. 

Adopting  these  principles,  in  their  most  unqualified  form 
and  extreme  asj)ect,  Penn  conformed  the  early  legislation  of 
his  young  empire  to  them,  and  thus  gave  a  peculiarly  peace- 
ful spirit  and  cast  to  the  government  and  people.  Nor  was 
he  disappointed  in  the  results.  Few  nobler  illustrations  of 
the  admirable  workings  of  these  principles,  in  a  civil  govern- 
m.ent,  arc  to  be  found,  than  those  furnished  by  the  history  of 
this  State  for  more  than  a  century  after  its  colonization. 
During  this  entire  period,  with  only  two  or  three  exceptions, 
the  blood  of  a  Friend  never  stained  an  Indian's  tomahawk. 
That  was  a  sublime  scene  in  our  national  history,  worthy  a 
Raphael's  pencil  and  a  Campbell's  pen,  when  three  jilain,  un- 
anned  Quakers  threw  themselves  fearlessly  among  thousands 
of  hostile  Indians,  exasperated  by  rumored  wrongs  and  burn- 


368        HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

ing  with  the  thirst  for  vengeance  ;  when  redressing  their 
grievances,  they  disarmed  their  malice  and  reopened  the 
fountain  of  affection  and  confidence  in  the  red  man's  breast. 
Such  a  scene  reveals  the  mighty  hold  of  Penn  upon  the  art- 
less nature  of  the  Indian  ;  it  proclaims  the  influence  of  a 
long  series  of  peaceful  and  just  acts,  commencing  with  the 
first  settlement  of  the  colony,  in  forming  the  minds  of  na- 
tions to  confidence.  It  reveals  not  only  the  power  of  a 
peaceful,  hut  also  of  a  just  spirit.  For  William  Penn  had 
none  of  the  elements  of  that  pusillanimity  which  cloaks  a  nig- 
gard and  grasping  policy  under  the  formal  profession  of  relig- 
ious principles.  He  and  his  people  were  not  only  men  of 
peace,  but  of  justice  also.  For  every  foot  of  their  soil  he 
paid  the  price.  He  deemed  it  not  sufficient  to  have  pur- 
chased the  land  of  his  king.  He  recognized  the  rights  of 
others,  antedating  all  the  discoveries  of  moderns  ;  title  deeds 
recorded,  indeed,  in  no  parchment  of  courts,  but  written  out 
on  every  tree  of  the  forest,  which,  however  massy  their  trunks 
and  lofty  their  branchings,  had  all  started  from  the  germ  cen- 
turies after  the  Indian  began  to  possess  this  world  of  ours. 
And  to  this  day  the  jurist,  as  he  searches  back  among  the 
records  of  that  age,  sees  everywhere  throughout  that  State 
the  effective  witnesses  of  the  justice  of  Penn.  He  bound  the 
aborigines  to  him  by  treaties,  by  mutual  courts  of  equity,  by 
habitually  seeking  their  highest  good.  No  red  skin  could 
charge  their  good  father  Onas  with  injustice  or  unkindness. 
He  taught  his  colonists  to  redress  their  wrongs.  He  punished 
the  men  who  took  an  unjust  advantage  of  the  simplicity  of 
their  nature.  And  though  the  Indian  has  faded  from  the 
broad  domain  of  his  fathers,  and  the  song  of  his  love,  the 
shout  of  his  fearful  war-cry,  rings  no  more  through  those 
woods,  along  those  streams  and  around  those  mountain  tops  ; 
though  Wyoming  is  smoking  from  the  torch,  and  bleeding 
beneath  the  hatchet  of  Brandt,  yet,  spirit  of  Penn  !  thou  at 
least  art  blameless  ;  thy  name  was  the  music  of  peace  and 
love  to  the  poor  Indian  in  his  night  of  sorrow  ;  and  of  thee 
he  spake  tenderly  to  his  children's  cliildren,  long  after  thy 


WILLIAM      PENN.  369 

rest  had  been  attained.  Had  the  same  maxims  universally 
regulated  the  Avhite  man's  intercourse  with  the  red  man,  the 
records  of  our  States  and  nation  would  have  been  unstained 
by  legalized  bloodshed  and  judicial  robbery.  Then  we  should 
have  been  spared  the  mortification  of  seeing  the  decisions  of 
the  highest  tribunals  in  the  land  nullified  by  an  inferior 
court ;  noble  men,  intent  solely  on  rescuing  the  Indian  from 
destruction,  incarcerated  like  felons  in  prison ;  the  domain  of 
a  once  powerful,  now  feeble  j^eople — a  domain  received  as  the 
heritage  of  ages,  improved  in  jjart  as  the  earnest  of  that 
higher  civilization  to  which  they  were  fast  ascending — wrest- 
ed from  them  by  the  arm  and  right  of  the  stronger,  while 
they  are  swept  from  the  graves  where  their  fathers  are  buried, 
and  where  it  is  the  red  man's  highest  ambition,  and  most 
devout  aspiration,  he  may  at  length  rest.  We  honor  the 
memory  of  the  man  who,  in  contrast  with  such  enormous 
wi'ong,  made  justice  to  the  Indian  the  corner-stone  of  his 
commonwealth,  and  kindness  the  law  of  liis  spirit.  May  his 
example  be  not  only  admired,  but  followed ;  and  the  mingled 
justice  and  love  of  his  statesmanship  enthrone  itself  in  all 
the  liigh  places  of  power  in  our  country. 

But  time  admonishes  me  to  bring  these  remarks  to  a  close. 
It  is  sufficient  to  remark,  in  taking  leave  of  this  subject,  that 
Penn  carried  the  same  habits  of  reform  into  the  criminal  code 
of  his  colony.  He  at  once  blotted  out  those  bloody  penalties 
which  darkened  the  pages  of  English  jurisprudence  ;  wisely 
resemng  the  greatest  and  most  influential  penalty  for  that 
crime  which  is  of  all  others  most  honible — embodying  in  his 
statutes  that  world-wide  command  of  One  wiser  than  all  hu- 
man legislators  ;  an  imperial  edict,  emanating  from  the  in- 
visible thi'one  of  Justice,  applicable  to  all  ages,  and  binding 
upon  all  men  ;  in  which  the  collective  wisdom  of  all  time  can 
detect  no  imperfection,  and  upon  which  the  heel  of  a  nation 
can  never  be  placed  without  prejudice  to  its  highest  welfare 
— "  Whoso  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be 
shed  :  for  in  the  image  of  God  made  he  man." 

I  have  thus  given  you  a  brief  and  hurried  sketch  of  this 

24 


370      HISTOKICAL     DISCOUllSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

great  man — imperfect  in  itself,  and  more  imperfect  from  the 
fact  that  I  have  purj)Osely  abstained  from  all  discussions  that 
might  assume  the  aspect  of  theological  controversy.  He  was 
not  faultless.  He  had  his  own  weak  points  ;  although  for  a 
character  of  such  positive  and  strongly  developed  features, 
they  were  neither  numerous  or  offensive.  Could  we  look  at 
him  fi-om  a  different  position,  and  analyze  his  character  sim- 
ply as  a  religious  man,  the  justice  of  this  remark  would  be 
manifest.  But  we  care  not  to  look  for  defects  amid  so  much 
finely-developed,  positive  excellence.  To  him,  and  to  the 
people  he  led  hither,  the  nation  is  indebted  for  lessons,  illus- 
trated by  noble  examples,  which  it  becomes  us  to  ponder 
deeply.  National  history  is  one  of  the  finest  means  of  na- 
tional discipline.  The  past  thus  embosoms  the  future  ;  it 
sends  down  an  influence  that  forms  the  atmosphere  of  thought 
for  succeeding  generations,  that  insensibly  works  millions  into 
the  same  national  lineaments,  and  creates  a  common  life  of 
feeling,  a  unity  of  action,  through  the  masses  of  a  nation. 
This  means  of  national  discipline,  for  a  people  springing  but 
yesterda,y  into  being,  we  possess  in  a  most  eminent  degree. 
Our  antiquity  is  crowded  with  heroic  ages,  luminous  with 
heroic  lives.  Scarcely  a  colony  was  planted  that  does  not 
serve  to  illustrate  the  power  of  some  important  principle  in 
the  Church  or  the  State.  Scarcely  a  generation  has  risen 
that  has  not  given  birth  to  noble  characters,  whose  peculiar- 
ities evince  the  power  and  spirit  of  their  age.  But  among 
them  all,  the  colony  of  Penn  stands  forth  rich  in  its  own  his- 
torical treasures,  and  strikingly  peculiar  in  its  great  develop- 
ments. While  the  character  of  Penn  himself  is  certainly  a 
remarkable  study,  upon  a  canvas,  every  part  of  which  is 
studded  with  lives  singularly  great  and  worthy  of  an  heroic 
age. 

It  has  been  said  that  he  lived  a  century  too  soon.  To  me 
he  seems  to  have  lived  just  at  the  period  which,  of  all  others, 
was  best  suited  to  his  genius,  and  gave  to  his  mind  the  broad- 
est field  for  labor.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  Huss,  Jerome, 
Copernicus,  Koger  Bacon  and  Raleigh,  lived  before  their  time. 


WILLIAM     PENN.  371 

The  world  was  not  prepared  for  their  theories  in  science,  religion 
and  government.  They  died  leaving  their  foot-prints  on  the 
sea  shore  over  which  the  ocean  soon  rolled ;  while  their  names, 
concealed  for  a  time  hy  the  moss  and  ivy  of  superstition  and 
ignorance,  yet  chiseled  deep  in  the  very  front  of  the  noble 
temple  of  truth,  live  in  the  view  of  an  age  better  able  to  ap- 
preciate their  character  and  do  justice  to  their  deeds.  For 
them  a  generation  must  arise,  partaking  of  their  sympathies, 
before  the  rubbish  will  be  removed  from  their  names,  and 
their  heroic  lives  will  acquire  their  rightful  influence.  But 
with  Penn  it  was  far  otherwise.  He  lived  at  a  period  of  his- 
toiy  of  unparalleled  interest,  when  the  past  and  the  future 
were  in  conflict,  when  the  chains  of  authority  were  loosened, 
and  society  was  a  great  caldron,  where  all  opinions,  all  cus- 
toms, mingled  furiously  without  uniting  ;  when  men  thought, 
wrote,  spoke  freely  ;  when  new  worlds  were  to  receive  their 
form  and  impress  from  the  few  master  minds  ;  when  the  doors 
were  thrown  wide  open  to  the  panting  victims  of  intolerance 
of  the  grandest  theater  ever  elaborated  by  time  for  founding 
empires,  for  establishing  novel  political  systems,  for  testing 
theories  that  till  then  had  only  lived  in  the  brains  of  students. 
Penn  appeared  on  the  stage  at  such  a  time.  •  He  was  just  the 
man  for  such  an  age.  With  the  heroism  of  a  confessor,  he 
united  the  wisdom  of  a  sage,  and  the  enterprise  of  an  adven- 
turer. He  lived  just  when  and  where  a  man  of  his  stamp 
could  stretch  the  scepter  of  his  influence  farthest  into  the 
future,  and  scatter  over  the  richest  soil  the  selectest  seed  of 
the  most  noble  principles.  Put  him  at  any  other  point  in  the 
world's  history,  and  he  will  seem  out  of  place.  He  was  fitted 
to  be  the  cotemporary  of  Sidney  and  Eussell,  and  Vane  and 
Milton,  and  Locke  and  Baxter,  and  the  heroic  founders  of 
New  England.  The  Quaker  preacher  was  the  man  for  his 
age.  He  lived  not  a  year  ^o  soon  ;  he  died  not  a  day  too 
early.  And  from  this  fortunate  union  of  the  age  and  the 
man,  there  have  come  forth  results  at  once  grand,  pure  and 
abiding. 

There  is  one  lesson  which  the  life  of  this  noble  man  af- 


372        HISTORICAL      DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

fords,  it  well  becomes  the  young  men  of  our  country  to  study. 
Defective  as  his  rehgious  system  is  to  me,  yet  I  can  not  but 
admire  his  fidelity  to  conscience.  In  whatever  else  he  was 
yielding,  here  he  was  firm  as  the  rock.  His  convictions  of 
duty  gave  way  to  no  considerations  of  pleasure,  of  wealth  or 
ambition.  What  he  thought  right  he  did,  though  all  the 
forces  of  the  court  and  the  hierarchy  were  arrayed  against  him. 
Here  he  is  truly  sublime.  And  if  you  would  select  one  trait 
of  his  character  most  worthy  of  imitation,  it  should  be  this 
independence  in  seeking  for  truth,  and  this  fearless  energy  in 
following  out  the  convictions  of  an  enlightened  conscience. 
This  virtue  is  everywhere  at  home.  It  lies  at  the  founda- 
tion of  all  deep  religious  faith  ;  it  is  essential  alike  to  a 
well-balanced  moral  and  religious  character,  its  sphere  of 
influence  is  as  wide  as  the  circle  of  your  life  itself  At 
all  times  and  in  all  places,  party,  interest,  honor,  pleasure, 
contest  the  supremacy  with  conscience.  To  us  the  means 
of  satisfying  an  honest  inquiry  into  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  morals  and  religion  are  so  accessible,  that  no 
man  need  be  in  doubt  respecting  his  course.  Political 
casuistry,  commercial  morality,  social  order,  the  healthful 
discipline  of  the -mind  and  heart,  are  all  tested  and  deter- 
mined by  a  few  simple  principles  in  morals  and  religion.  It 
is  over  the  application  of  these  principles,  Conscience  sits  as 
the  dictator.  To  maintain  these  truths  in  practice,  demands 
genuine  independence  and  unbending  decision.  If  you  would 
follow  conscience,  you  must,  at  times,  breast  the  perverse 
currents  of  party,  of  the  spirit  of  trade,  and  the  customs  of 
society.  But  if  your  persevere,  the  very  effort  will  develop 
within  you  a  marked,  ingenuous  and  lofty  character  ;  if  you 
jjersevere,  though  the  partisan,  whose  only  merit  may  be  con- 
sistency in  eiTor,  while  his  crime  is  treason  to  truth,  should 
brand  you  "  traitor,"  though  friends  may  frown  and  all  things 
seem  joined  in  a  conspiracy  against  your  peace,  yet  be  as- 
sured that  in  the  end,  under  the  government  of  one  whose 
purpose  it  is  finally  to  vindicate  truth  and  virtue,  as  surely  as 
the  sun  shall  rise  after  the  darkest  night,  so  surely  will  re- 


WILLIAM     PENN.  373 

ligiori;  justice,  magnanimity  and  conscience  triumph.  The 
name  of  the  once  disinherited  Quaker  is  immortal.  The 
woods  in  yonder  State,  the  key-stone  of  our  glorious  arch, 
whisper  it ;  the  stir  and  rattle  of  that  great  city  whose  streets 
his  hand  traced,  echo  it ;  the  flaming  forges  of  Pittsburg 
blazon  it  ;  the  rumbling  of  ten  thousand  cars,  bearing,  from 
the  emboweled  earth,  the  black  combustible  and  sterling  ore 
— the  physical  elements  of  a  nation's  strength — proclaim  it ; 
while  two  millions  of  freemen  cherish  it,  as  did  the  ancient 
Roman  his  household  deity.  There  was  indeed  a  time  when 
the  young  nation  he  created  seemed  to  have  forgotten  him  ; 
when,  could  spirits  reveal  themselves,  it  needed  no  effort  of 
fancy  to  imagine  his,  fleeing  from  their  capitol,  with  cheeks 
crimsoned  with  indignation,  and  hands  upraised  in  horror,  at 
the  injustice,  which  under  the  guise  of  "  Repudiation,"  struck 
at  those  fundamental  principles  he  would  have  died  to  main- 
tain. When  the  flames  wreathed  themselves  about  that  hall, 
dedicated  to  independent  discussion,  and  ushered  in  that  dark 
and  bloody  march  of  riot,  which  converted  the  city  of  "  Broth- 
erly Love"  into  an  arena  where  fraternal  discord  and  demoniac 
passions  held  their  jubilee,  then,  if  any  earthly  transactions 
could  have  reached  him,  would  his  rest  have  been  disturbed. 
Those  times  have  gone  by,  we  trust  never  to  return.  His 
spirit  may  no  more  revisit  the  soil  he  loved  ;  but  his  nnme 
and  fame,  the  heritage  of  our  common  country,  shall  yet  be 
cherished  in  a  nation's  heart,  and  mentioned,  with  resjjectful 
affection,  by  augmenting  millions,  as  their  peaceful  anthems 
swelling  up  in  harmony  with  the  thunders  of  the  Atlantic  and 
rolling  onward  with  the  orb  of  day,  shall  at  length  peal  along 
the  Rocky  Mountains  and  mingle  with  the  surges  of  yon  vast 
Western  Sea. 


374      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

WILLIAM    PENN'S    LETTER    TO    THE    INDIANS. 

"London,  the  18th  of  the  8th  month,  1681. 

"My  Friends, — 

"  There  is  a  Great  God  and  power,  that  hath  made  the 
world  and  all  things  therein,  to  whom  you  and  I  and  all  peo- 
ple owe  their  being  and  well-being  ;  and  to  whom  you  and  I 
must  one  day  give  an  account  for  all  that  we  do  in  the  world  : 
this  Great  God  hath  written  his  law  in  our  hearts,  by  which 
we  are  taught  and  commanded  to  love  and  help,  and  to  do 
good  to  one  another,  and  not  to  do  harm  and  mischief  unto 
one  another  ;  now  this  Great  God  hath  been  pleased  to  make 
me  concerned  in  your  part  of  the  world,  and  the  king  of  the 
country  where  I  live  hath  given  me  a  great  province  therein ; 
but  I  desire  to  enjoy  it  with  your  love  and  consent,  that  we 
may  always  live  together  as  neighbors  and  friends  ;  else  what 
would  the  Great  God  do  to  us  ?  who  hath  made  us  not  to 
devour  and  destroy  one  another,  but  to  live  soberly  and  kindly 
together  in  the  world.  Now  I  would  have  you  well  observe, 
that  I  am  very  sensible  of  the  unkindness  and  injustice  that 
hath  been  too  much  exercised  towards  you  by  the  people  of 
these  parts  of  the  world,  who  have  sought  themselves,  and  to 
make  great  advantages  by  you,  rather  than  to  be  examples  of 
justice  and  goodness  unto  you,  which  I  hear  hath  been  mat- 
ter of  trouble  unto  you,  and  caused  great  grudgiugs  and  ani- 
mosities sometimes  to  the  shedding  of  blood,  which  hath  made 
the  Great  God  angry.  But  I  am  not  such  a  man,  as  is  well 
known  in  my  own  country  ;  I  have  great  love  and  regard  to- 
ward you,  and  I  desire  to  win  and  gain  your  love  and  friend- 
ship by  a  kind,  just,  and  peaceable  life,  and  the  people  I  send 
are  of  the  same  mind,  and  shall  in  all  things  behave  accord- 
ingly ;  and  if  in  any  thing  any  shall  offend  you,  or  your  peo- 
ple, you  shall  have  a  full  and  speedy  satisfaction  for  the  same, 
by  an  equal  number  of  just  men  on  both  sides,  that  by  no 
means  you  may  have  just  occasion  to  be  oifended  against 
them.     I  shall  shortly  come  to  you  myself,  at  what  time  we 


1 


WILLIAM     PENN.  375 

may  more  largely  and  freely  confer  and  discourse  of  these 
matters  ;  in  the  meantime  I  have  sent  my  commissioners  to 
treat  with  you  about  land,  and  a  firm  league  of  peace  :  let 
me  desire  you  to  be  kind  to  them  and  the  people,  and  receive 
these  presents  and  tokens  which  I  have  sent  you,  as  a  testi- 
mony of  my  good- will  to  you,  and  my  resolution  to  live  justly 
peaceably,  and  friendly  with  you. 

"  I  am  your  loving  friend, 

«W.  PENN." 


XI. 

JOHN    CALVIN    AND    JOHN    WESLEY.* 

In  the  free  development  of  mind  in  this  our  countiy,  the 
anniversaries  of  our  colleges  and  universities  have  grown  to 
be  a  power  in  the  State.  Passing  beyond  the  reunions  of  old 
friends,  and  the  genial  interchange  of  social  courtesies  be- 
tween individuals  gathered  from  various  parts  of  the  Union, 
they  have  become  the  occasions  for  discussions  not  directly 
connected  with  education — discussions  of  questions  often  wide 
in  their  range  and  general  in  their  character.  Hundreds  of 
thousands  of  youth  in  the  process  of  education,  and  of  ma- 
ture minds  already  in  the  field,  are  gathered  annually  to  listen 
to  these  addresses.  A  collection  of  them  from  year  to  year 
would  constitute  the  finest  illusti-ation  of  the  substantial 
characteristics  of  the  trained  mind  of  the  country.  The  sub- 
jects they  discuss,  the  spirit  they  breathe,  the  salient  points 
from  which  the  eloquence  coruscates  and  thrills,  would  re- 
flect like  a  mirror  the  changing  aspects  of  our  national  life. 
Amidst  a  vast  congeries  of  declamation,  there  would  still  be 
found  a  vast  amount  of  sound  thought  and  eloquent  discus- 
sion— of  thought  that,  penetrated  by  true  emotion,  entered  as 
a  living  and  germinating  force  into  many  a  soul  ripe  for  its 
reception. 

But  while  all  this  is  true  of  our  colleges,  it  is  curious  to 
observe  how  another  kind  of  common  law  has  grown  into  au- 
thority in  respect  to  our  female  seminaries.  These  have  their 
anniversary  addresses  as  well  as  our  colleges.  But  for  some 
reason,  not  always  apparent,  the  speakers  on  these  occasions 

*  An  address  delivered  at  the  first  anniversary  of  the  Western  Female  Semi- 
nary, at  Oxford,  Ohio,  July  17,  1856. 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WESLEY.  377 

have  felt  it  incumbent  on  them  to  dwell  on  themes  more  im- 
mediately connected  with  female  education.  Whether  this 
results  from  the  fact  that  these  institutions  are  comparatively 
of  modern  growth  among  us,  and  their  policy  stands  in  need  of 
special  vindication  ;  or  whether  it  he  due  to  an  impression  that 
the  audiences  on  these  occasions  have  less  sympathy  with  more 
general  themes,  I  know  not.  Certain  it  is  we  have  had  the 
whole  modus  operandi  of  woman's  education,  and  the  various 
aspects  of  woman's  sphere  dwelt  upon  and  canvassed  and  illu- 
minated so  often  and  so  largely,  that  the  community  have  come 
to  regard  it  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  a  speaker  on  such  an 
occasion  as  this  shall  tell  us  all  he  knows,  and  some  things  he 
does  not  know — all  he  thinks  and  what  he  does  not  think 
about  woman  and  her  development  and  her  life.  And  while 
there  is  no  subject  so  lovely  and  so  attractive  to  a  man  of  sense 
as  tliis  jjersonification  of  grace  and  beauty,  yet  we  can  not 
help  thinking  that  this  perpetual  harping  on  a  single  string, 
however  sweet  its  tone  may  be,  and  this  narrowing  down  of 
our  anniversary  discussions  to  a  dissection  of  our  ideal  Eve,  is 
any  thing  but  a  compliment  to  the  intelligence  of  those  we 
are  called  to  address.  Education,  female  education,  in  its 
richest  garb,  its  noblest,  dignity,  its  purest  ideal,  lives  and 
moves  before  us  to-day.  There  is  an  eloquence  of  emotion, 
and  an  intelligence  of  thought,  and  a  maturity  of  develop- 
ment revealed  on  these  countenances,  that  forbids  my  apol- 
ogizing for  the  freedom  I  shall  take  in  addressing  you  on  a 
theme  that  has  no  special  relation  to  one  sex  more  than  the 
other — a  theme  of  common  interest  to  the  thoughtful,  and 
not  inapjjropriate  to  these  your  literary  festivities. 

It  is  now  more  than  three  hundred  years  since  John  Cal- 
vin founded  the  University  of  Geneva.  This  illustrious  man 
valued  learning  as  the  friend  of  revealed  truth. 

He  disciplined  the  intellect,  and  prepared  it  to  expatiate 
over  the  field  of  earthly  science,  that  when  illuminated  by 
the  higher  science  of  revelation,  and  quickened  by  the  life 
of  Christian  faith,  it  might  grapple  understandingly  with  the 
eiTors  that  assailed  the  Church  of  Grod.     He  never  dreamed 


378      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

that  the  science  of  nature  in  its  profoundest  teachings  could 
possibly  be  in  any  respect  at  variance  with  the  science  of  rev- 
elation. The  latter  indeed  was  the  fuller,  the  richer  unfold- 
ing of  God  ;  but  it  rose  out  of  the  former,  as  the  branches, 
leaves  and  fruit  grow  out  of  the  trunk  and  the  roots.  It  was 
true  that,  revelation  aside,  there  was,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
pride,  the  vain  speculations,  the  unseemly  arrogance  and  pre- 
tension of  science  ;  but,  on  the  other,  there  was  the  credulity, 
the  folly,  tlie  debasement  of  ignorance.  The  first  "toarshaled 
the  forces  of  skepticism,  the  second  of  superstition.  If  mere 
learning  puffed  up,  sheer  ignorance  prepared  men  to  credit  all 
the  monstrous  conceits  of  an  ill-regulated  fancy  ;  and  so  when 
taken  by  themselves  they  balanced  each  other,  with  this  ex- 
ception, that  the  former  always  led  the  latter.  But  when  a 
new  force  was  introduced,  the  influence  of  which  counter- 
acted the  incidental  evils  of  science,  and  consecrated  it  to  its 
original  purpose,  then  it  was  no  longer  a  question  whether 
in  preparing  minds  for  the  largest  and  the  best  influence, 
that  which  so  admirably  trained  the  intellect  should  be 
wisely  used  or  wholly  surrendered  to  the  enemies  of  the 
truth. 

With  such  views  Calvin  laid  the  foundations  of  his  uni- 
versity. Some  of  the  finest  intellects  adorned  it  as  teachers, 
or  came  forth  from  it  as  scholars.  Beza  and  Turretin,  Bon- 
net and  Necker,  Beranger  and  Pictet  illustrate  its  history  ; 
while  hundreds  of  faithful  pastors,  as  quiet  laborers  in  the 
ministry,  or  as  confessors  and  martyrs  in  those  fierce  perse- 
cutions which  Rome  kindled  to  consume  the  Protestantism 
that  threatened  its  existence,  demonstrated  the  wisdom  of  its 
founder.  Wherever,  since  that  time,  Calvin's  influence  has 
been  deeply  felt,  there  similar  institutions  have  sprang  into 
existence. 

Let  us  pass  down  the  stream  of  time  two  centuries.  An- 
other reformation  was  stirring  the  stagnant  waters  of  England. 
Another  reformer  had  arisen,  whose  name,  like  that  of  Cal- 
vin, was  destined  to  become  a  household  word  wherever  the 
English  language  is  spoken.     John  Wesley,  in  the  fullness  of 


JOHN     CALVIN      AND     JOHN      WESLEY.        379 

his  power,  had  begun  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  church 
whose  history,  in  its  greatness,  he  could  but  imperfectly  fore- 
see. Himself  thoroughly  trained  in  the  discipline  of  science, 
he  valued  too  highly  the  importance  of  learning,  not  to  ap- 
preciate its  influence  in  the  great  movement  he  had,  under 
divine  guidance,  so  successfully  originated.  His  comprehen- 
sive mind  designed  that  the  church  then  rising  into  life  should 
embrace  within  itself  all  the  means  of  a  thorough  education. 
He  would  not  have  it  dependent  on  the  gi*eat  universities  of 
England,  and  so  he  founded  at  Kingswood — where  Whitefield 
preached  to  ignorant  colliers  his  first  field  sermon  on  Rose 
Mount,  and  afterward  laid  the  corner  stone  of  a  school  for 
their  children — an  institution  which  he  designed  should  be 
not  at  all  inferior,  in  its  discipline  and  advantages,  to  Oxford 
or  Cambridge.  It  was  no  fault  of  Wesley's  that  his  policy 
in  this  respect  was  not  immediately  successful.  It  was  im- 
possible for  any  one  man,  however  remarkable  his  talents,  to 
superintend  the  progress  of  a  movement  which  daily  outran 
the  expectations  of  even  his  sanguine  spirit,  and  at  the  same 
time  give  that  constant  and  minute  supervision  absolutely  es- 
sential to  the  building  up  of  a  great  university. 

But  the  policy  was  wise,  although  in  his  time  but  imper- 
fectly realized.  That  which  he  proposed  in  England,  another 
land  was  to  see  executed.  Kingswood  inaugurated  the  policy 
which  contemplated  the  complete  independence  of  the  Meth- 
odist church  for  the  means  of  a  liberal  education,  but  it  was 
in  America  this  policy  was  destined  to  be  fully  tested.  In 
the  institutions  of  learning  already  established  in  most  of  the 
States  of  this  confederacy,  bearing  his  name  on  their  portals, 
we  see  the  realization  of  the  broad  views  and  comprehensive 
spirit  of  John  Wesley. 

I  propose  on  this  occasion  to  bring  before  you  these  great 
men.  Their  name,  their  fame,  their  substantial  greatness  are 
of  no  doubtful  kind.  Their  influence  at  this  hour  flows  on, 
deep,  strong,  wide-spread.  There  are  no  two  uninspired  men 
in  all  the  past,  whose  genius,  overpassing  the  limits  of  their 
native  land,  is  affecting  more  happily  or  more  powerfully  than 


380     HISTOKICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

theirs  the  whole  Protestant  world.  And  I  speak  of  them  on 
this  occasion  especially,  because  there  was  that  in  them  which 
in  a  high  degree  claims  the  study  of  the  young.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  proper  study  of  man  is  man — a  sentiment  par- 
tial, and  therefore  false.  The  proper  study  of  mankind  is 
God  ;  and  it  is  only  as  we  study  God  in  man  that  we  are  at 
all  elevated  above  human  baseness.  The  men  that  are  most 
studied  are  those  in  whom  ambition  and  lust  reveal  them- 
selves amidst  the  light  of  genius.  It  is  not  man's  original 
powers  and  noble  capacities  that  attract  the  student;  it  is 
man  as  in  obedience  often  to  depraved  passions  he  has  acted  a 
conspicuous  part  in  human  affairs.  The  conqueror  in  his 
robes  of  blood  ;  the  statesman  in  his  tortuous  path  of  in- 
trigue ;  the  poet,  enshrining  lust  on  a  golden  pedestal ;  the 
philosopher,  the  most  conceited,  the  most  blind  of  all,  rearing 
his  ice-palaces  on  the  crushed  sensibilities  of  humanity  ;  these 
are  the  gods  our  youth  are  taught  to  worship.  Your  Cgesars, 
and  Louis  XIV.,  and  Napoleons  ;  your  Voltaires,  and  Pitts, 
and  Sheridans  ;  your  Drydens,  and  Byrons,  and  Shelleys  ; 
your  Spinosas,  and  Humes,  and  Kants,  are  the  demi-gods  of 
history.  Such  men  and  their  deeds  are  the  study  of  our 
youth  ;  and  thus  it  happens  that  the  devil  in  man,  and  that 
which  is  most  devilish  in  his  doings,  gilded  over  and  com- 
mended by  the  radiance  of  genius  and  the  attraction  of  great 
talents,  form  the  staple  of  history.  The  pure,  the  true,  the 
spiritual ;  the  men  whose  hearts  evince  the  power  of  a  divine 
influence  in  renovating  their  passions,  and  breathing  into  them 
a  sublime  spirit  of  devotion  to  His  will ;  the  men  whose  lives 
have  been  the  salt  of  the  earth,  and  whose  deeds  have  blessed 
millions,  are  passed  superciliously  by  ;  their  defects  magnified 
ungraciously  ;  their  genius  depreciated  ;  their  deeds  of  love 
and  their  influence  of  light  rarely  recognized,  or  more  rarely 
still,  lauded.  History  has  been  intent  unwittingly  in  fulfilling 
divine  prophecy.  Gibbon,  and  Hume,  and  nine  tenths  of  their 
compeers,  have  fulfilled  the  words  of  Jesus,  "  If  they  have 
hated  me,  they  will  hate  you  also." 

Turning  from  the  men  most  glorified  in  history,  named 


JOHN      CALVIN      AND     JOHN      WESLEY.        381 

most  approiniately  profane,  I  invite  you  to  view  the  cliarac- 
ters  of  two  men  in  whose  lives  you  will  find  that  which  enno- 
bles intellect  and  reflects  most  luminously  the  divine  working 
in  man.  And  in  order  to  present  them  before  you  in  the  short 
time  allotted  to  this  exercise,  permit  me  to  state  rapidly  some 
of  the  points  of  resemblance  and  difference  between  them. 

First.  These  great  men  both  sprang  from  the  middle  class 
in  society.  Calvin's  father  was  a  notary  in  the  ecclesiastical 
court  of  Noyon,  his  native  place,  and  secretary  of  the  bishop. 
He  was  possessed  of  a  competency,  but  not  of  wealth.  With- 
out belonging  to  the  nobility  of  France,  he  was  yet  on  terms 
of  familiar  intercourse  with  several  of  them.  Wesley's  father 
was  rector  of  the  church  at  Epworth,  and  his  mother  the 
daughter  of  one  of  the  non-conforming  Puritan  ministers  who 
were  ejected  from  their  livings  at  the  Restoration,  when  that 
incarnation  of  hypocrisy,  lust  and  folly,  Charles  II.,  ascended 
the  throne.  The  mothers  of  these  men  were  women  of  fervent 
faith,  and  their  fathers  men  of  strong,  clear  sense.  They 
came  forth  from  that  condition  in  society  which  has  given  to 
the  world  the  great  majority  of  its  ablest  and  most  useful 
minds.  Neither  poverty  with  its  depressions,  nor  wealth  with 
its  advantages  is  adajDted  to  nourish  the  largest  thinkers  and 
the  noblest  workers.  Out  of  the  first  now  and  then  a  mind 
like  that  of  Bunyan  shines  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude ;  out 
of  the  second  now  and  then  a  man  Hke  Wilbeiforce  has  suc- 
ceeded in  impressing  himself  upon  his  age.  But  in  propor- 
tion to  the  numbers  of  the  first,  and  the  privileges  of  the 
second,  such  minds  are  rare.  If  the  progress  of  the  world 
rested  upon  them  alone,  its  advance  would  be  slow,  its  history 
soon  written.  It  is  that  happier  class  who  feel  neither  the 
curse  of  deep  poverty  nor  the  enervation  of  great  riches ;  who 
are  under  the  necessity  of  useful  employment  sufficient  to 
quicken  their  energies,  but  who  also  cherish  the  independence 
and  ambition  inspired  by  the  consciousness  that  the  paths  of 
affluence,  of  distinction,  or  of  an  healthful  competence  are 
open  before  them  ;  who  may  not  attain  education  without  an 
effort,  but  who  nevertheless  have  early  access  to  its  advan- 


382     HISTORICAL     DISCOUESES     AND     ESSAYS. 

tages — it  is  from  this  class,  in  the  main,  the  profound  think- 
ers and  the  mighty  actors  in  the  world's  history  have  come 
forth.  The  sons  of  destitution  and  of  affluence,  whose  names 
shine  brightly  in  the  past,  are  solitary  stars  ;  while  the  sons 
of  a  healthful  yet  laborious  competence  form  constellations 
of  glory  in  every  part  of  the  firmament. 

Second.  Calvin  and  Wesley  were  men  of  commanding 
intellect.  They  differed,  as  I  shall  presently  show,  in  their 
mental  structure,  but  both  of  them  were  possessed  of  rare 
original  endowments.  Great  minds  may  remain  undeveloped 
from  the  absence  of  the  occasions  necessary  to  reveal  them. 
But  minds  that,  amidst  scenes  demanding  gi-eat  power  in 
their  chief  actors,  have  shown  themselves  equal  to  such  emer- 
gencies, have  thereby  received  the  stamp  of  greatness.  Deeds 
demonstrate  the  reality  of  great  original  powers.  The  world 
recognizes  greatness  only  as  it  reveals  itself  in  action,  and  the 
deeds  of  these  men  have  long  attested  to  friends  and  foes  their 
consummate  power.  We  admit  the  necessity  of  circumstances 
to  develop  the  original  capacity  ;  but  we  also  affirm  that  all  the 
circumstances  that  ever  were  combined  together  never  devel- 
oped greatness  out  of  inherent  feebleness,  or  made  him  truly 
gi-eat  whom  God  had  not  first  capacitated  by  his  gifts  for  the 
exhibition  of  high  qualities.  No  feeble  hand  reared  the  pyra- 
mids ;  no  limited  capacity  ruled  the  British  senate  for  twenty 
years,  during  the  fearful  conflict  with  the  French  at  the  close 
of  the  last,  and  the  opening  of  the  present  century  ;  no  lim- 
ited intellect  framed  the  Institutes  or  wrote  the  Commentaries 
of  Calvin,  or  began  and  consolidated  the  reformation  which 
gave  birth  to  the  Methodist  church. 

And  with  these  great  powers,  both  of  these  men  received 
a  fervid  temper a^nent — an  active,  earnest  spirit,  which  ever 
impelled  to  labor  ;  which  made  effort  a  joy,  and  nerved  them 
to  the  most  continuous  and  persevering  toils.  They  vrere  not 
men  who  could  sit  down  at  their  ease.  The  '"'■  fervida  mens" 
was  a  living  impulse  that  compelled  the  putting  forth  of  their 
extraordinary  powers.  The  restless  energy  of  their  original 
natures  made  thought  and  labor  in  some  direction  a  necessity. 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WESLEY.  383 

If  they  had  not  been  in  the  ministry,  they  were  men  of  such 
an  active  temperament  that  they  would  have  been  conspicuous 
actors  in  some  of  the  fields  of  worldly  renown.  Th(5y  might 
have  been  leading  statesmen,  mighty  warriors,  agitators  and 
chiefs  in  the  conflicts  of  human  society  ;  but  drones  and  slug- 
gards, content  to  hide  in  obscurity  and  bury  their  talents, 
they  could  never  have  been.  Had  they  been  farmers  or  me- 
chanics or  merchants  or  politicians,  the  world  might  not  have 
heard  of  them  ;  their  names  might  not  have  echoed  from  con- 
tinent to  continent ;  millions  might  not  have  looked  back  to 
them  with  veneration  and  love  ;  but  in  their  own  circle  their 
vehement  spirits  upbearing  their  native  gifts,  would  have 
made  them  men  of  mark. 

Third.  Calvin  and  Wesley,  neither  of  them,  were  com- 
pelled to  limit  themselves  to  an  inferior  sphere  of  action  by 
the  conscious  loant  of  intellecUial  training.  They  enjoyed  the 
finest  education  which  their  ages  afforded.  They  were  both 
students  from  childhood.  Calvin  pursued  a  wide  range  of 
study  in  all  the  branches  of  a  liberal  education.  He  studied 
Latin  under  Corderius,  the  best  grammarian  of  his  time.  He 
studied  law  Avith  Wolmar,  the  ablest  jurisprudist  of  the  age. 
At  twenty-one,  he  was  pronounced  by  Scaliger  the  most 
learned  man  in  all  Europe.  Wesley,  at  Oxford,  ran  through 
the  cuiTiculum  of  that  university  with  great  success.  He 
was  master  of  half  a  .dozen  languages  ;  and  it  was  from  the 
unique  position  of  a  Fellow  of  Lincoln  College  that  he  was 
able  to  expatiate  as  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England  over 
the  whole  British  empire. 

Now  this  is  a  significant  fact  in  the  qualification  of  these 
men  for  their  peculiar  work.  Great  talents  are  found  here 
and  there  in  all  classes  of  society,  and  though  undisciplined, 
they  may  yet  be  capable  of  effecting  great  things  in  some  di- 
rections. But  the  greatest  works  in  human  progress  it  is  not 
given  them  to  perform.  Wesley  found  a  vast  amount  of  latent 
talent  among  the  uneducated,  and  in  the  progress  of  his  work 
he  took  measures  to  develop  and  use  it  for  a  most  noble  pur- 
pose.    But  among  aU  the  men  he  thus  called  out,  there  was 


384    HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

not  one  who  could  have  taken  his  place  or  jjerformed  his  work. 
And  so  it  is  in  all  history.  Thorough  mental  discipline  is 
nothing  more  than  the  just  development  of  the  intellect,  pro- 
ducing that  mental  balance  which  enables  a  man  to  look  all 
round  his  subject,  and  prosecute  his  work  with  the  finest  in- 
struments to  the  end.  And  this  discipline,  however  it  may 
have  been  acquired,  whether  under  the  disadvantages  of  pri- 
vate study,  persistently  mastering  the  difficulties  which  ob- 
struct and  guard  the  ascents  to  the  heights  of  power,  or  with 
the  aid  of  tutors  and  professors,  doing  the  same  thing — is  the 
essential  condition  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  greatest  and 
most  useful  works  of  man.  The  exceptions  are  rare  indeed. 
Enthusiasm  may  do  much  ;  native  talent  may  do  much  ;  a 
gift  for  some  special  work  may  effect  much  ;  but  enthusiasm 
and  talent  and  peculiar  aptitude  can  do  vastly  more  when  they 
are  aided  by  the  discipline  of  a  thorough  education.  In  say- 
ing this,  I  do  not  say  that  a  college  education  or  a  private 
education  is  the  best  mode  of  attaining  this  discipline.  Some 
men  are  better  educated  in  one  way,  and  others  in  another. 
But  the  thing  itself  is  that  which  all  men,  who  are  to  act  a 
great  part  and  effect  a  lasting  work,  must  attain.  Calvin  and 
Wesley  started  at  this  high  elevation,  and  from  it  they  have 
sent  forth  an  influence  which  lives  to  this  time. 

FourtJi.  Calvin  and  Wesley  were  equally  distinguished 
by  the  most  fervent  piety.  Their  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
their  Master  was  simple  and  profound.  Calvin,  early  in  his 
study  of  the  ScrijDtures,  saw  and  embraced  the  truth.  Up  to 
that  time  he  had  before  him  first,  a  brilliant  career  in  the 
Romish  church,  and  then  an  equally  brilliant  prosjDCct  in  the 
law.  But  when  the  light  of  Christ's  truth  entered  his  soul, 
he  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  proclamation  of  this  truth  to 
his  fellow-men.  In  the  Papal  church  he  might  have  been 
bishop,  cardinal,  pope,  and  sat  on  the  loftiest  eminences  of 
ecclesiastical  power.  He  might  have  risen  at  court  to  the 
most  august  positions  that  Francis  had  in  his  gift.  No  man 
of  that  age,  untitled,  and  sjiringing  from  the  middle  class, 
had  prospects  more  brilliant  for  a  successful  worldly  career. 


JOHN     CALVIN      AND     JOHN     WESLEY.  385 

Riches,  honor,  fjime,  pleasure,  robed  in  their  most  attractive 
graces,  assailed  his  heart.  But  when  once  he  had  emerged 
from  the  darkness  of  a  soul  struggling  under  the  burden  of 
its  sins,  and  the  j^eace  of  a  living  faith  had  entered  his  heart, 
then  he  flung  them  from  him,  as  the  rock  dashes  back  the 
spray  of  the  ocean.  Henceforth  he  coveted  no  honor  but  that 
of  serving  Jesus.  He  endured  persecution,  he  embraced  pov- 
erty, he  consented  to  be  an  exile  from  the  land  he  dearly 
loved,  he  stood  forth  a  simple-minded  and  humble  cunfes- 
sor  of  Christ.  He  bathed  his  soul  daily  in  the  living  light 
of  God's  ])ure  truth.  His  experience  became  a  transcript 
from  the  life  that  breathed  and  glowed  in  the  precious  vol- 
ume which,  with  a  rapturous  enthusiasm,  he  embraced  in  his 
heart.  This  is  the  secret  of  his  power.  He  had  power  with 
God  ;  he  lived  in  constant  communion  with  the  author  of  all 
power.  His  whole  life  was  a  protracted  vigil,  an  incessant 
sacrifice,  a  perpetual  incense  of  prayer  and  praise.  He  who 
might  have  enjoyed  princely  revenues,  died  worth  less  than 
two  hundred  dollars  ;  and  over  his  grave,  by  his  express  in- 
junction, no  stone  was  raised  to  mark  the  resting-place  of  the 
mortal  remains  of  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  devoted  of 
Christ's  servants. 

Wesley,  too,  early  in  his  career,  entered  the  service  of  his 
Master.  He  too  had  before  him  honor  and  competency  in  the 
Church  of  England.  But  when  he  heard  the  call  of  duty,  he 
gave  liimself  with  all  his  heart  to  a  work  that  involved  oppo- 
sition, persecution  and  poverty.  How  he  lived  as  a  burning 
light  of  faith,  through  what  conflicts  he  passed,  and  came 
forth  stronger  in  the  Lord  ;  how  the  peace  of  God  dwelt  in 
his  heart ;  how  he  gathered  strength  from  on  high  ;  how  he 
who  made  many  rich,  and  reared  for  Christ  chapels  all  over 
England,  died  at  last  worth  not  more  than  the  Genevan  Ke- 
former,  is  known  to  you  all. 

These  great  men  embraced  the  same  fundamental  truths, 
drank  daily  at  the  same  fountain  of  living  water,  walked  by  the 
light  of  tlie  same  ever-burning  lamp,  embraced  the  same  rich 
and  all-sufficient  promises,  rejoiced  in  the  same  assurance  of 

25 


386     HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

divine  forgiveness,  breatlied  the  same  spirit  of  compassion  for 
a  world  in  sin,  were  conscious  of  the  same  personal  inability 
to  effect  any  thing  of  themselves,  illustrated  the  same  enthusi- 
astic consecration  of  all  their  powers  to  the  service  of  their 
light  royal  Prince,  and  died  supported  by  the  same  triumph- 
ant faith. 

Fifth.  These  Reformers  were  illustrations  of  the  most 
extraordinary  diligence  and  persevering  labor  to  effect  the 
sa-me  great  object.  The  world  has  never  seen  more  marked 
examples  of  the  old  Roman  maxim — "totus  in  illis."  Cal- 
vin, in  consequence  of  his  severe  application  in  youth,  carried 
with  him  into  public  life  a  body  radically  diseased,  and  a 
ruined  constitution.  The  tabernacle  in  which  he  dwelt 
swayed  to  and  fro  with  every  breeze.  Instead  of  supporting 
the  soul,  it  seemed  as  if  nothing  but  the  indomitable  energy 
of  this  active  spirit  kept  it  from  falling  to  pieces.  It  was  as 
if  the  hands  of  a  giant  constantly  propped  up  the  tottering 
edifice.  In  spite  of  this  incessant  fight  with  disease,  he  bore 
himself  amid  the  most  gigantic  labors  like  a  bodiless  spirit. 
He  preached  every  day  during  each  alternate  week  ;  thrice  a 
week  he  gave  lectures  in  theology  ;  he  presided  in  the  consis- 
tory every  Thursday  ;  every  Friday  at  the  meeting  for  scrip- 
tural discussion,  held  in  St.  Peter's  church,  he  delivered  almost 
a  complete  lecture.  When  it  was  not  his  turn  to  preach,  he 
had  his  books  brought  him  at  five  or  six  in  the  morning,  and 
dictated  to  an  amanuensis.  He  carried  on  a  most  extensive 
correspondence  with  leading  minds  all  over  Europe.  He 
wrote  some  forty  volumes  of  Commentaries,  Institutes,  and 
Controversial  Tracts.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century,  from  the 
time  he  came  to  Geneva  till  he  died,  he  knew  no  recreation  ; 
he  bent  all  his  mighty  energies,  amid  opposition  the  most 
violent,  and  great  physical  weakness,  toward  the  single  object 
of  making  known  to  men  the  whole  Word  of  God. 

Wesley,  generally  blessed  with  health,  and  engaging  in  a 
course  of  life  eminently  favorable  to  its  preservation,  exhibits 
a  like  unity  of  purpose,  and  unconquerable  energy  in  its  ex- 
ecution.   He  traveled  yearly  over  four  thousand  miles,  chiefly 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WESLEY.        387 

on  horseback.  He  preached,  during  his  fifty  years  of  minis- 
terial labor,  more  than  forty  thousand  sermons.  He  denied 
himself  the  pleasures  of  literature,  of  which  he  was  passion- 
ately fond,  to  carry  out  this  extraordinary  programme  of 
labor.  His  eye  was  upon  all  parts  of  Great  Britain.  His 
lines  of  travel  networked  the  kingdom.  He  threw  aside 
every  thing  that  did  not  bear  immediately  or  remotely  upon 
the  successful  prosecution  of  his  great  work.  His  energy  ex- 
tended to  the  last  hour  of  his  life,  and  after  fourscore  years 
had  j)assed  over  him,  he  pursued,  with  unintermittcd  zeal, 
the  same  course.  And  it  was  not  until  the  wheel  at  the  cis- 
tern ceased  to  revolve,  that  this  noble  labor  for  Christ  and 
His  cause  reached  its  end.  Well  might  these  holy  men,  as 
they  looked  back  over  their  varied  and  incessant  toils,  ex- 
claim, "per  varios  casus,  per  tot  discrimina  reric77i,  tendi- 
mtis  in  coelum."  Their  prodigious  toils,  their  unity  of  pur- 
pose, their  entire  consecration  of  life  to  its  great  work,  have 
few  parallels  in  history. 

Sixth.  Calvin  and  Welsey  locre  truly  representative  men, 
and  as  such  fitted  to  mold  and  direct  the  minds  of  others. 
The  ideas  which  move  society  lie  confused  and  feebly  appre- 
ciated in  the  multitude.  It  is  only  here  and  there,  a  mind 
capable  of  seizing  them,  of  giving  them  form  and  life,  of  in- 
tensifying and  impersonating  them  before  the  world.  Such 
a  mind  represents  in  itself  the  wants,  and  the  ideas  that  fill 
up  the  wants  of  men.  It  does  not  create  the  want,  that  ex- 
ists already.  It  does  not  originate  the  idea,  for  that  is  al- 
ready existing,  and  is  partially  revealed  ;  but  it  feels  in  itself, 
and  attains  the  full  consciousness  of  what  the  want  is.  It 
seizes  hold  of  the  truth  which  this  want  demands,  and  meets 
its  necessities.  It  has  power  to  bring  forth  this  truth,  so 
that  as  the  want  is  felt,  multitudes  shall  recognize  it  as  the 
very  truth  they  have  hungered  for,  have  confusedly  thought 
of,  and  dimly  apprehended.  Then  this  soul  stands  forth  as 
the  embodiment  of  the  feelings  and  views  of  the  masses.  And 
as  it  thus  appears,  it  has  power  to  propagate  the  same  ideas 
in  various  directions.     It  becomes  a  quickener  as  well  as  a 


388     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND      ESSAYS. 

guide.  It  moves  as  well  as  enliglitens.  It  discovers  the 
deeper  wants  of  otliei'  souls,  and  makes  them  sensible  of  their 
real  necessities.  It  pours  into  their  minds  the  very  thoughts 
which  are  mighty  to  rouse  the  stupid,  and  elevate  the  debased 
to  its  own  level.  Such  men  God  has  made  great — great  in 
fe-eling,  great  in  intellect,  great  in  tact,  great  in  eifcctive 
action,  and  therefore  great  in  influence.  Calvin  was  such  a 
man.  He  knew  the  want,  the  real  feeling,  that  moved  the 
souls  of  men  ;  and  with  surprising  intuition,  he  grasped  the 
truth  adapted  to  meet  that  want,  that  would  commend  itself 
to  those  who  felt  thus,  and  lead  .them  forth  into  the  liberty 
of  the  sons  of  Grod.  Behold  !  how,  to  this  day,  he  stands 
forth  as  the  representative  of  the. feelings  and  views,  and  no- 
blest aspirations  of  millions  !  how  his  words  have  quickened 
and  guided  vast  multitudes  !  how  in  him  they  find  the  vivid 
personiiication  of  just  those  eternal  ideas  which  elevate,  and 
satisfy,  and  bless  their  souls  ! 

Wesley,  too,  was  such  a  man.  As  he  felt,  as  he  thought, 
millions  feel,  millions  think.  Striking  in  another  direction, 
standing  in  another  position,  occupying  a  somewhat  different 
field  of  thought,  yet  with  what  power  did  he  work,  how 
boldly  did  he  represent  what  he  thought  and  felt,  how  vividly 
did  he  impress  himself,  as  the  impersonation  of  their  views 
and  feelings,  upon  multitudes  !  Who  is  there  to  this  day  that 
more  fully,  more  justly,  or  more  vividly  represents  in  himself 
the  character  of  the  Methodist  church,  than  John  Wesley  ? 

Seventh.  Calvin  and  Wesley  ivere  leader's  in  the  two  most 
imjwrtant  reformations  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  and 
both  of  them  founded  distinct  ecclesiastical  systems.  When 
Calvin  came  upon  the  stage  of  public  life,  the  great  Reforma- 
tion of  the  sixteenth  century  had  already  commenced.  Luther, 
its  great  orator,  and  the  grandest  figure  in  the  assemblage 
of  great  minds  that  adorned  and  illustrated  that  age,  had 
reached  the  zenith  of  his  power.  The  Reformers  had  pro- 
nounced their  emphatic  protest  at  Sjjires,  against  the  tyran- 
nical decision  of  Charles — a  protest  against  spiritual  despot- 
ism, which  we  rejoice  to  wear  as  our  crown  of  glory,  our 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     V/  E  S  L  E  Y  .         389 

grand  distinctive  name,  a  name  which  tells  the  story  of  the 
Eeformation  for  all  time.  At  Augsburg,  Melancthon  had 
presented  his  great  Confession  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 
But,  as  yet,  the  whole  reform  movement  was  desultory  and 
unconsolidated.  Theii  Calvin,  a  mind  of  another,  in  some 
respects  a  higher  order,  appeared.  At  once  he  takes  his  jilace 
as  the.  theologian  of  the  Reformation.  He  is  acknowh  dged 
as  the  man  lor  the  time.  He  is  elevated  to  the  position  of 
chief  by  the  voice  of  all  the  Protestant  world  outside  of  Ger- 
many. Luther  had  quickened  the  slumbering  millions.  His 
clarion  rang  all  over  Europe,  as  the  voice  of  God.  The 
Romish  church,  a  vast  edifice,  reared  by  the  toil  of  centuries, 
began  to  crumble.  That  mighty  word,  "  the  just  shall  live 
by  faith,"  as  it  thundered  over  the  continent,  shook  down 
the  altar,  the  images,  the  proud  cathedrals.  Then  came  the 
builder.  Then  arose  the  architect,  who  out  of  these  ruins 
was  to  rear,  in  beautifiil  and  solid  proportions,  the  form  of 
Christ's  living  church.  That  architect  was  Calvin.  He  con- 
solidated, he  systematized,  he  planned,  for  the  upbuilding  of 
a  church,  that  in  its  simplicity,  and  unity,  and  apostolic  vigor, 
should  stand  for  ages  the  mightiest  bulwark  against  the  power 
of  Rome,  the  most  efficient  propugnator  of  the  truth.  His 
ideas  penetrated  Germany,  and  aided  in  the  construction  of 
the  Lutheran  church.  In  France,  in  Switzerland,  in  Hol- 
land, in  Scotland,  they  entered  and  wrought  with  greater 
power.  In  England,  though  modified  and  resisted,  they  yet 
exerted  a  vast  influence.  His  ecclesiastical  system  has  spread 
itself  abroad,  reviving  and  consolidating  the  spirit  of  liberty 
among  the  great  majority  of  the  Protestant  world,  and  carry- 
ing the  power  of  republicanism  into  this,  then  almost  un- 
known land. 

When  Wesley  entered  Lincoln  College,  the  Church  in 
England  had  sunk  into  a  state  of  profound  stupidity  ;  mul- 
titudes of  the  people  were  as  ignorant  of  Christianity  as  ever 
they  were  under  the  papal  rule.  The  young  men  at  Oxford, 
who  formed  the  first  circle  for  prayer,  were  a  strange,  an 
anomalous  class  of  beings.     But  from  that  prayer-room  the 


390     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

light  of  piety  was  destined  to  go  forth  again,  till  it  should 
illumine  that  whole  island,  and  kindle  anew  the  flame  of 
Christian  love  in  this  western  world.  Of  that  reformation, 
whose  vital  power  has  since  been  felt  all  through  the  estab- 
lished Church  of  England,  Whitefield  was  the  great  orator. 
He  moved  upon  the  hearts  of  men  with  the  power  of  a  divine 
inspiration.  He  j)assed  from  continent  to  continent,  a  blaze 
of  living  light  and  love.  Wherever  he  went,  men  crowded 
around  the  cross.  Such  eloquence,  so  pure,  so  lofty,  in  a 
cause  so  holy,  attended  everywhere  with  such  demonstrations 
of  power  above  the  art  of  man,  the  Church  had  never  heard 
since  apostolic  days. 

Charles  Wesley  was  the  sweet  singer  of  this  reformation. 
His  poetic  genius,  inflamed  with  the  love  of  Christ,  gave  to 
the  Church  the  choicest  gems  of  art.  He  sang  not  as  one 
who  is  quickened  by  the  admiration  of  natural  beauty,  not 
as  one  fired  by  earthly  passions,  and  enshrining  in  forms  of 
loveliness  the  corrupt  breathings  of  a  worldly  heart ;  but  as 
one  whose  spirit  had  been  bathed  in  the  silvery  light  of  a 
better  world,  whose  emotions  had  been  entranced  by  celestial 
visions,  in  whose  heart  the  love  of  Christ  had  quickened  all 
that  was  most  pure,  most  noble,  most  heavenly.  And  thus 
his  lyrics  have  been  the  breathing  of  piety  for  millions  ;  the 
eaarle  wind's,  on  which  humble  and  contrite  souls  have  soared 
upward  to  the  throne  where  the  Lamb  sitteth,  where  angels 
and  saints  on  that  sea  of  glass  ever  worship. 

But  Wesley — John  Wesley — had  still  a  higher  mission 
than  either  of  these.  If  Whitefield  was  a  Demosthenes,  John 
Wesley  was  an  Alexander ;  if  Whitefield  was  a  Cicero,  John 
W^esley  was  a  Ceesar — a  Caesar  not  to  gain  bloody  empire, 
not  to  marshal  rapacious  legions  to  slaughter,  but  to  organize 
and  discipline  the  hosts  of  Israel  for  conflict  with  the  woidd. 
It  was  given  him,  not  only  to  quicken  by  his  bold  and  manly 
eloquence,  multitudes  of  the  ignorant  fi-om  the  sleep  of  death, 
but  to  lead  them  into  green  pastures,  to  fold  them  in  safety, 
to  originate  and  consolidate  that  church  which  for  one  hun- 
dred years  has  been  distinguished,  alike  for  the  vigor  of  its 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WE, S  LEY.  391 

piety  and  the  energy  vvitli  which  it  has  assailed  the  powers 
of  darkness,  and  preached  the  redemption  of  Jesus  to  the 
poor  in  that  land  and  in  this.  Calvin  and  Wesley  !  behold 
them  both  !  each,  in  the  reformation  of  their  own  time,  origi- 
nating systems  ecclesiastical,  giving  form  to  churches,  that 
not  as  rivals,  but  as  co-workers,  have  accomplished  such  won- 
ders for  Jesus. 

Without  carrying  further  the  parallel  between  these  men, 
permit  me  to  mention  only  the  fact  that  they  were  not  fault- 
less. They  were  neither  of  them  guiltless  of  mistakes  and 
errors  which  their  enemies  in  after  times  have  seized  upon  to 
reflect  dishonor  upon  their  memories.  Calvin,  emerging  from 
the  Papacy,  in  common  with  all  the  reformers,  however  com- 
pletely he  may  have  divested  himself  of  the  costume,  could 
not  at  once  wholly  emancipate  himself  from  the  subtle  spirit 
which  had  penetrated  the  very  bones  of  men.  What  wonder 
was  it  if,  amid  the  heat  of  that  fierce  conflict,  they  did  not  at 
once  see  the  full  bearing  of  those  great  principles  of  liberty 
which  they  had  established,  and  could  not,  amid  the  wild 
confusion  of  the  time,  give  to  the  winds  that  maxim  of  the 
Catholic  church  which  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  State  to  inflict 
temporal  penalties  upon  men  who  grossly  assail  the  truths  of 
religion  ?  More  than  a  century  and  a  half  passed  away  be- 
fore the  Protestant  church  fiirly  ascended  to  its  present  plat- 
form of  religious  liberty.  It  rose  to  this  eminent  position  in 
virtue  of  those  very  ecclesiastical  principles  which  Calvin  him- 
self firet  fairly  saw  and  unfolded.  Bacon  believed  many 
things  which  belonged  rather  to  the  state  of  knowledge  in  his 
day.  But  the  principles  of  Bacon  have  carried  science  for- 
ward to  its  present  high  position.  And  Koger  Williams, 
when  he  began  in  Rhode  Island  the  total  separation  of  the 
Church  from  the  State,  was  but  acting  as  a  consistent  disciple 
of  the  G-enevan  Reformer. 

So  Wesley,  emerging  from  the  formalism  of  his  age,  at 
first  did  things  which  in  after  life  he  was  compelled  to  disown, 
and  partisan  opponents,  fastening  upon  his  errors  of  judg- 
ment, deny  to  him  the  privilege  of  learning  new  truths  from 


392  HISTOKICAL     DISCOUESES     AND     ESSAYS. 

the  providence  of  God,  and  would  fain  compel  him  to  be  as 
ignorant  at  sixty  as  he  was  at  thirty  years  of  age. 

The  misjudgments  of  these  great  men,  in  point  of  fact, 
are  neither  vital  to  their  systems  nor  their  piety.  They  fall 
off  from  them  as  time  advances,  and  leave  their  true  greatness 
in  all  its  symmetry  and  grandeur.  So  have  I  seen  the  gallant 
ship  that  had  traversed  the  world  of  waters,  had  visited  trop- 
ical seas,  and  penetrated  the  frozen  north,  and  borne  itself 
bravely  amidst  the  tempests  that  sweep  the  main,  return 
home  with  sails  rent  and  discolored  and  her  keel  loaded  with 
the  shells  she  had  gatliered  in  every  clime,  while  yet  the  heart 
of  oak  was  still  sound  and  her  masts  were  all  firm,  and  after 
the  lapse  of  a  few  days  in  port,  she  stood  forth  strong  and 
free  to  battle  with  the  ocean  and  the  storm.  And  thus  it  is 
with  those  whose  gi'eatness  has  its  seat  in  God.  These  men 
of  might,  their  defects  and  misjudgments  fallen  from  them, 
still  live  in  all  the  purity  of  their  characters,  the  power  of 
their  principles,  and  the  grandeur  of  their  illustrious  exam- 
.  pies  ;  and  so  they  will  live  for  ever. 

But  it  is  time  that  I  j)ass  from  these  analogies,  and  pre- 
sent before  you  some  of  those  points  in  which  these  minds 
just  as  strikingly  differed  from  each  other. 

And  first,  you  ivill  perceive  a  contrast  in  the  original 
structure  and  movement  of  their  minds.  Calvin  was  remark- 
able among  all  the  men  of  his  time  for  dejith  and  grasp  upon 
the  principles  that  underlie  the  forms  of  truth.  He  pene- 
trated into  the  heart  of  his  subject.  He  possessed  that  philo- 
sophic power  which,  not  content  with  the  first  view,  held  a 
jiroposition  before  the  eye  until  it  was  resolved  into  its  ori- 
ginal elements.  Words  and  formulas  were  to  him  as  nothing. 
He  sought  the  ultimate  idea  which  only  a  full  and  protracted 
analysis  could  reach  ;  and  then  from  that,  as  from  a  rock,  he 
built  up  the  system  of  truth  in  all  its  relations  and  lofty  pro- 
portions. This  was  the  original  power  that  constituted  him 
the  theologian  of  the  Reformation.  This  lifted  him  above 
his  celebrated  compeers,  and  made  him  a  teacher  for  all  the 
ages  to  come.     This  qualified  him  to  write  those  Institutes 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WESLEY,  393 

which  time  has  made  immortal.  This  fitted  him  to  pene- 
trate the  sjiirit  and  hidden  meaning  of  the  sacred  writers,  and 
stamped  his  Commentaries  with  that  impress  of  truth  which 
compels  modern  philology,  with  all  its  advance  in  the  mere 
machinery  of  interpretation,  to  recognize  in  him  an  almost 
inspired  teacher. 

Wesley,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not  at  all  excel  in  this 
philosophic  penetration.  His  ardent  mind  seized  at  once 
upon  a  proposition,  without  caring  to  look  below  the  form 
in  which  it  was  expressed.  His  conceptions  were  intuitive. 
His  quick  eye  saw  at  a  glance  the  general  aspects  of  truth. 
He  did  not  hold  the  truth  before  him  till  it  was  resolved  into 
a  final  analysis.  He  knew  not  how  to  penetrate  to  the  root 
and  then  trace  out  the  tree  along  its  trunk  and  branches,  till 
in  its  full  and  noble  proportions  it  lifted  itself  far  up  into  the 
sky.  He  lingered  among  the  branches  and  was  satisfied  to 
take  the  tree  as  others  had  developed  it.  He  was  a  capital 
disputant.  He  knew  all  the  forms  of  logic.  He  was  a  prac- 
ticed athlete  in  the  arena  of  controversy,  and  woe  to  that  man 
who  aspired  to  wrestle  with  him  for  victory.  He  penetrated 
at  once  the  false  premises  of  an  adversary,  and  dragged  it 
forth  from  amidst  the  verbiage  which  concealed  it  from  view. 
At  the  bar  he  would  have  won  eminence  as  a  pleader  in  the 
contest  with  the  greatest  lawyers  of  his  time.  But  this  veiy 
power  of  argument,  springing  as  it  did  from  the  rapidity  of 
his  perceptions,  was  adverse  to  that  coolness  and  deliberation 
which  alone  prepare  the  mind  to  penetrate  the  ultimate  ideas 
that  form  the  basis  of  all  profound  truth.  In  this  respect  he 
was  vastly  inferior  to  Calvin,  The  latter  was  like  Burke  or 
Webster,  the  expounder  of  constitutions,  the  enunciator  of  . 
j^rinciples,  and  gifted  with  a  grand,  a  majestic  eloquence  that 
illuminated  all  it  touched,  and  was  fitted  for  the  unfolding 
of  truth  that  should  affect  and  mold  after  generations,  Wes- 
ley resembled  Fox  in  the  power  of  direct  argument,  and  our 
own  Clay  in  the  popular  character  of  his  eloquence. 

But  this  very  difference  made  each  of  these  men  the  man 
for  his  time.     When  Calvin  came  upon  the  stage,  it  was  in 


394         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

theology  especially  that  a  master  mind  was  needed.  That 
was  the  time  for  instruction,  for  consolidation,  for  systema- 
tizing truth,  for  building  up  the  system  of  Christian  doctrine 
a:nd  discipline  divested  of  the  falsities  and  glosses  which  ages 
of  darkness  had  heaped  upon  and  around  it.  For  this  pro- 
found and  noble  work  such  a  mind  was  originally  constituted, 
and  appearing  at  that  time  it  did  its  work  most  nobly — as- 
cending into  those  higher  forms  of  thought  with  consummate 
ease,  striking  directly  into  the  heart  of  the  system  of  truth, 
carrying  its  appeal  to  the  thinkers  of  the  world  with  an  un- 
surpassed power. 

But  when  Wesley  came  upon  the  stage,  the  field  of  Prot- 
estant theology  had  been  traversed  for  two  hundred  years  by 
stalwart  intellects.    Turretin,  Baxter,  Owen,  Charnock,  Howe, 
and  others  of  kindred  genius,  had  given  to  the  Church  those 
tomes  of  Christian  doctrine  which  form  the  proudest  monu- 
ment in  the  history  of  the  Protestant  church.     It  was  not  in 
the  field  of  theology  that  the  work  of  that  time  was  to  be 
done.     The  Church  herself  lay  stupid  and  dead  amidst  the 
forms  of  trutli.     The  articles  and  confessions  of  the  churches 
still  remained  as  compact  and  harmonious  as  before,  not  a  line 
wanting,  not  a  stone  shaken  out  of  its  place.  The  temple  of  truth 
rose  majestically  ;  but,  alas  !  the  men  who  thronged  its  aisles 
and  sounding  corridors  were  blind  and  stiff.     The  fire  on  the 
altar  smoldered  in  its  ashes.    The  swelling  chant,  the  sublime 
confession,  the  loud  response  still  echoed  along  its  arches  ; 
but  the  wail  of  the  burdened  sinner,  and  the  glad  symphony 
of  hearts  filled  with  the  love  of  Christ,  and  the  eloquent  ap- 
peal of  apostolic  men  to  souls  crowding  the  broad  road,  had 
died  away.     It  was  the  time  for  the  soul  filled  with  the  love 
of  God  to  startle  the  slumbering  pastors  and  the  stupid  peo- 
ple from  their  dreams.     That  was  the  time  for  a  man  of  bold 
and  stirring  eloquence,  of  direct  and  popular  argumentation, 
to  bring  all  his  resources  to  the  work  of  rekindling  the  fire  on 
this  dishonored  altar,  and  chasing  with  scorpion  lash  the  pro- 
fane intruders  from  the  temple  of  God.     John  Wesley  was 
that  man.     His  ardent  soul  fired  with  new-born  love,  his  in- 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WESLEY.  395 

tellect  rapid  and  clear,  his  power  of  direct  argumentation  and 
ad  hominem  appeal,  his  bold  and  eloquent  manner,  his  mas- 
tery of  those  simple  ideas  which  do  most  execution  with  the 
popular  mind,  his  uncompromising  principles  and  indomita- 
ble zeal,  interpenetrated  and  glowing  with  the  mingled  love 
and  faith  of  an  humble  Christian,  qualified  him  above  all 
men  of  his  time  for  carrying  forward  this  new  reformation, 
and  proclaimed  him  the  man  set  apart  of  God  as  his  elect  in- 
strument for  the  renovation  of  his  age. 

And  holding  this  same  idea  of  adaptation  in  view,  you 
will  see  how  these  men,  Calvin  and  Wesley,  in  another  par- 
ticular difference,  each  excelled  in  his  own  way.  Calvin  ivas 
not  gifted  ivith  tnucli  tact  in  the  majiagement  of  men.  Con- 
fined to  Geneva,  he  had  more  than  he  could  do  to  hold  in 
check  the  wild  passions  of  the  masses  in  that  provincial  town. 
It  was  not  his  province,  nor  his  work,  to  pass  from  town  to 
town  and  impress  himself  upon  the  boisterous  multitude. 
Farel  here  was  vastly  his  superior.  Farel  was  the  White-field 
of  Switzerland.  His  eloquence  fell  peal  after  peal  upon  the 
hearts  of  men  like  the  artillery  of  the  skies.  It  was  Calvin's 
work  to  enunciate  great  principles,  which  other  minds  grasp- 
ing firmly,  should  spread  abroad,  and  with  them  mold  the 
people.  He  addressed  himself  to  the  thoughtful,  and  through 
them  he  moved  the  masses.  His  range  of  thought  was  too 
elevated  for  the  great  majority.  He  was  indeed  eloquent  in 
his  way.  St.  Peter's  was  thronged  for  years  to  listen  to  his 
expositions  of  Christian  truth.  But  his  eloquence  was  of 
that  weighty  and  solid  character  which  the  more  thought- 
ful chiefly  appreciate.  It  was  the  majestic  flow  of  a  deep 
river,  which  traversed  vast  regions,  and  spread  itself  abroad 
fertilizing  innumerable  fields,  the  greatness  of  which  the 
dwellers  on  its  banks  did  not  at  once  understand.  He  fed  a 
thousand  reservoirs,  himself  unseen.  He  cared  not  to  come 
in  direct  contact  with  men.  His  study  was  his  home,  and  his 
pulpit  his  throne.  His  words  were  not  spoken  alone  for  the 
hundreds  that  listened  to  him.  Those  students  who  hung 
upon  his. lips  were  to  go  forth,  through  France  and  Switzer- 


396         HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

land,  proclaiming  the  truth  this  gi-eat  master  had  taught. 
Those  theological  prelections  and  luminous  commentaries 
were  to  enter  the  studies  of  other  men,  and  in  England,  Scot- 
land, and  all  over  the  Continent,  were  to  speak  through  them 
to  the  people.     Such  was  his  work. 

But  Wesley  had  a  work  to  eifect  directly  upon  the  popu- 
lar mind,  and  through  it  to  quicken  pastors  and  revive  an  in- 
terest in  those  same  truths  which  Calvin  had  taught  so  suc- 
cessfully. The  whole  process  must  be  reversed.  The  fire 
must  he  kindled  at  the  bottom,  and  spread  itself  upward 
through  the  already  prepared  materials.  He  must  begin  with 
outcast  colliers,  with  the  most  brutish  and  ignorant  of  the 
populace.  He  is  to  kindle  a  flame  of  Christian  love,  out  un- 
der the  broad  arch  of  heaven,  in  those  hearts  to  which  Chris- 
tianity was  but  a  name — a  flame  that  should  ascend  until  the 
worshipers  in  stately  cathedrals  felt  its  warmth,  and  bishops 
and  archbishops  recognized  anew  the  mission  of  the  ministry 
of  Jesus.  He  was  to  organize  a  church  and  give  it  pastors, 
and  frame  its  laws,  and  bind  it  together  as  a  compact,  self- 
existent,  living,  self-perpetuating  organism  of  religion.  And 
for  this  work  Grod  gave  him  a  special  tact  in  the  management 
of  men.  He  could  look  a  mob  into  silence.  He  quelled  a 
riot  with  a  word.  The  shake  of  his  hand  made  the  most  fe- 
rocious leaders  of  the  wild,  roaring  populace  his  fast  friends. 
His  knowledge  of  character  was  intuitive.  He  rarely  ever 
failed  in  his  judgment  of  men.  He  detected  talent,  and  gave 
it  a  place  to  reveal  itself.  His  preachers  grew  up  around  him, 
a  band  of  noble,  self-sacrificing,  docile  co-workers.  He  was 
capacitated  for  government,  and  he  displayed  on  the  wide 
field  of  his  itineracy,  as  consummate  powers  of  generalship  as 
Pitt  or  Napoleon  ever  exhibited  in  the  conduct  of  Parliament 
or  the  marshaling  of  armies. 

With  such  marked  differences  in  their  original  jjowers, 
these  men  contrasted  equally  in  the  actual  tvoi'khig  out  of 
their  course.  Calvin  started  with  settled  principles.  His 
plans  were  all  thoroughly  digested,  and  philosophically  ar- 
ranged at  tlie  commencement.     The  elements  of  his  theology 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WESLEY.  397 

were  iDublished  before  he  went  to  Geneva,  and  tliougli  lie 
vastly  improved  and  amplified  them,  yet  his  views  never  were 
altered.  The  original  treatise  is  incorporated  just  as  it  was 
written,  in  the  last  and  perfect  edition.  His  system  of  church 
government  was  fully  settled  at  the  beginning  of  his  public  ca- 
reer. The  fundamental  principles  which  characterize  his  sys- 
tem and  his  after  works,  were  early  and  unalterably  estab- 
lished. His  life  was  but  the  filling  up  of  this  system.  He 
wrought  outward  and  upward  from  this  firm  foundation.  He 
encountered  difiiculties  at  every  step.  Opponents  swarmed 
on  all  sides.  He  became  the  target  for  the  shafts  of  Liber- 
tines, Anabaptists,  Socinians,  Papists,  yet  he  never  wavered. 
He  held  the  truth  with  a  giant  hand  high  above  the  waves. 
He  sent  it  forth  to  the  world  in  new  forms,  but  it  was  the 
same  substantial  thought. 

Wesley,  on  the  other  hand,  began  without  any  regular 
plan.  He  was  a  Fellow  of  Oxford,  and  a  rigid  churchman, 
without  the  remotest  thought  of  originating  a  new  church 
organization.  Schism  was  full  of  horror.  He  only  knew  that 
God  had  called  him  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  preach  it  he 
would.  If  the  churches  were  closed  against  him,  he  would 
go  forth  into  the  fields.  If  the  rich  and  the  great  frowned 
upon  him,  he  would  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  to  the  ignor- 
ant. And  so  he  went  on  step  by  step,  diverging  from  the 
establishment,  planning  this  and  then  that  to  meet  the  emer- 
gencies as  they  rose,  taking  something  from  the  Moravians, 
and  seizing  hold  of  some  idea  which  the  ^^rogress  of  the  cause 
presented  to  him,  and  combining  them  all  with  admirable 
tact  to  effect  his  purpose,  until,  before  he  realized  it,  he  had 
actually  established  a  church  outside  of  that  of  which  he  was 
an  ordained  minister.  He  followed  the  divine  hand,  and  it 
led  him  where  he  once  thought  it  imj)ossible  he  should  have 
gone.  And  so,  at  length,  there  grew  uj)  the  firm  and  consist- 
ent framework  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  hundreds  of 
preachers,  and  thousands  of  communicants,  looked  to  him  as 
their  earthly  father  and  head. 

You  will  bear  with  me  while  I  state  another  point  of  dif- 


398      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

ference  in  our  Reformers.  Calvin  had  a  tender  and  loving 
heart.  He  loved  his  friends  with  a  greatness  corresponding 
to  his  profound  nature.  The  man  who  attached  to  him  in 
the  bonds  of  sweetest  earthly  affection  such  men  as  Farel,  and 
Beza,  and  Melancthon,  could  have  had  in  him  nothing  sour, 
morose,  malignant.  No  man  loved  the  Church,  and  all  who 
bore  the  character  of  his  Master,  more  ardently  than  he.  Of 
all  the  Reformers,  he  labored  with  the  greatest  earnestness  to 
compose  the  differences  that  then  began  to  distract  the  Prot- 
estants— he,  of  all  men,  felt  most  deeply,  most  painfully,  the 
divisions  among  the  leaders  of  the  elect  host.  In  the  great 
controversy,  "  De  CJmna,"  which  divided  the  Lutheran  and 
the  Reformed,  he  stood  midway,  and  struggled  for  long  years 
to  unite  the  parties  on  a  common  platform  :  and  had  he  pos- 
sessed the  tact  in  managing  men  that  distinguished  John 
Wesley,  in  all  probability  that  unhappy  division,  which  ar- 
rested the  progress  of  the  Reformation,  and  turned  the  amis 
of  the  Reformers  against  each  other,  and  so  gave  the  papal 
party  time  to  recover  from  its  confusion,  would  have  ceased 
to  exist.  But  with  all  this  tender  and  loving  nature,  Calvin 
was  irascible  and  easily  excited.  He  hated  error  with  all  the 
power  of  his  soul,  and  when  he  saw  what  he  deemed  the  truth 
of  Grod  assailed,  he  came  forth  in  its  defense,  and  with  a  two- 
edged  sword  clave  error  and  errorist  to  the  earth.  He  early 
lost  a  wife,  whom  he  loved  most  tenderly.  His  only  child 
died  in  infancy.  His  physical  pains,  which  made  his  life  a 
constant  scene  of  suffering,  tended  to  augment  the  excitable- 
ness  of  his  nature.  In  these  circumstances,  deprived  of  those 
domestic  enjoyments  which  God  hath  appointed  to  soothe  our 
spirits  in  the  hour  of  trial,  he  was  called  upon  to  fight  with 
men  of  most  malignant  spirit,  and  to  refute  errors  of  the  most 
destructive  character.  What  wonder  is  it,  if  he,  like  Luther, 
should  sometimes  have  failed  to  discriminate  between  the  er- 
ror and  the  man  who  held  it  ?  Yet  with  all  this,  or  in  spite 
of  all  this,  his  piety  shone  out  so  transcendently,  that  those 
who  knew  him  best,  loved  him  most.  The  Council  of  Geneva 
express  his  character  in  their  resolutions  after  his  death,  in 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WESLEY.  399 

one  word — majesty — a  great  intellect  pervaded  and  guided  by 
a  truly  great  and  pious  heart. 

Wesley,  on  the  other  hand,  was  naturally  amiable.  It 
was  easy  for  him  to  love.  The  grace  needful  to  make  one 
Calvin  such  as  he  was,  was  sufficient,  speaking  'more  humano, 
to  make  half  a  dozen  John  Wesleys  such  as  he  was.  He 
knew  little  of  disease.  In  fine  health — his  mind  constantly 
diverted  by  the  round  of  new  scenes,  successful  beyond  his 
hopes  in  the  great  work  to  which  he  was  called,  not  of  neces- 
sity exposed  to  that  kind  of  controversy  which  most  excites 
indignation  and  anger,  his  amiable  spirit  had  full  and  free 
play.  In  him  piety  revealed  itself  in  the  form  of  love.  In 
Calvin  it  showed  its  greatness  in  the  form  of  duty — obedience. 
In  both,  despite  their  faults,  it  shone  forth  with  uncommon 
brilliancy. 

Let  us  dwell  for  a  moment  on  the  closing  scenes  of  these 
two  sublime  lives.  It  is  Easter  Sabbath,  the  2d  of  April, 
1564.  On  this  day  the  church  of  Geneva  were  wont  to  cele- 
brate the  supper  with  unusual  solemnity.  We  enter  St. 
Peter's.  The  magnificent  edifice  is  thronged  in  every  part. 
By  the  dim  light  that  streams  through  the  stained  windows 
in  the  distant  choir,  the  preparations  for  the  communion  ser- 
vice are  visible.  The  plain  table  with  its  snow-white  cover- 
ing, its  sacramental  vessels,  the  simple  bread  and  wine,  tell  the 
whole  story  of  the  Reformation,  and  proclaim  the  overthrow 
of  the  idolatrous  Mass.  On  either  side  of  it  the  ministers  of 
the  gospel  are  seated,  and  behind  them  the  grave  senators  of 
this  young  republic.  No  priestly  miter,  nor  ducal  coronet, 
nor  royal  escutcheon  is  visible  in  that  house  of  prayer.  The 
same  power  that  banished  the  altar  and  the  image  has  cast 
down  the  flaming  symbols  of  spiritual  and  temporal  des- 
potism. 

A  deep  and  oppressive  silence  is  upon  the  vast  assembly. 
It  is  obvious  to  even  a  stranger  that  this  is  no  common  occa- 
sion. The  gravity,  the  intense  solemnity,  the  sad  and  tearful 
aspect  of  the  multitude  indicate  the  expectation  of  an  un- 
usual scene.     At  length  there  is  a  slight  rustling  at  the  great 


400     HISTORICAL    DISCOUKSES    AND    ESSAYS.  ' 

central  door.  A  wave  of  excitement  passes  over  the  whole 
assembly — the  throng  parts — slowly  a  pale,  emaciated  form  is 
borne  up  the  broad  nave,  and  placed  immediately  before  the 
communion  table.  That  massive  head,  that  dark  eye  burning 
with  celestial  light,  that  spiritual  aspect  full  of  calm  majesty 
and  radiant  with  hope,  proclaim  the  presence  of  one  of  the 
greatest  and  noblest  of  men.  It  is  John  Calvin's  last  com- 
munion. The  service  commences  —  Beza  is  the  preacher. 
The  learned  and  faithful  colleague  of  Calvin,  revering  him 
as  a  father,  and  walking  in  the  light  of  his  instructions  as  in 
the  purest  and  brightest  reflection  of  divine  truth,  sj^eaks  on 
this  day  as  one  inspired  and  looking  uj)ward  to  the  open 
vision  of  the  supper  of  the  Lamb.  He  descends  from  the  pul- 
pit, and,  advancing  to  the  table,  begins  the  simple  yet  solemn 
sacramental  service.  He  confesses  the  sins  of  the  people ;  he 
gives  thanks  to  God  for  the  love  that  gave  his  Son  a  sacrifice 
for  us  ;  he  invokes  the  divine  benediction  upon  the  sacred 
emblems  and  those  about  to  partake  thereof.  Then  breaking 
away  from  the  usual  formula,  he  bears  on  his  heart  him  who 
so  long  had  preached  in  that  house,  ai^d  who  had  there  been 
a  spiritual  father  to  so  many  souls — whose  words  had  gone 
forth  as  a  message  from  the  throne  to  millions  in  other  lands, 
now  for  the  last  time  on  earth  about  to  commemorate  the 
death  of  his  Lord.  The  sight  of  that  emaciated  countenance, 
the  sermon  full  of  tenderness,  the  prayer  burdened  with  emo- 
tion that  choked  the  utterance,  have  profoundly  stirred  the 
he-art  of  the  assembly.  Then,  as  he  presents  to  his  revered 
and  beloved  friend  and  father  the  simple  elements,  the  sym- 
pathy becomes  too  deep  for  restraint  ;  sobs,  in  vain  sup- 
pressed, burst  forth.  Tears  unbidden  flow  from  eyes  unused 
to  weep.  Old  men  and  strong  men  who  saw  him  as  in  his 
early  prime  he  first  entered  that  house — who  knew  what  Ge- 
neva was  then,  and  see  in  contrast  what  through  his  labors 
it  is  now,  bow  their  heads  and  weep  that  they  shall  see  him 
no  more.  Young  men  and  maidens  whom  he  had  bajotized 
and  instructed — whose  hearts  had  been  led  to  Christ  under 
his  ministry,  are  filled  with  unutterable  sadness  at  the  pros- 


JOHN      CALVIN     AND     JOHN      WESLEY.        401 

j)ect  of  his  departure.  Some  whose  vices  he  had  reproved 
and  whose  hatred  he  had  won,  stand  awe-struck  and  smitten, 
as  if  ah-eady  the  great  Judge  had  passed  sentence  upon  them. 
Not  a  heart  in  that  vast  assembly  is  indifferent — not  one  that 
does  not  feel  that  the  chief  glory,  the  brightest  light  of  their 
city  is  about  to  set.  Amidst  sobs  and  tears,  group  after  group 
approach  and  retire  from  that  sacred  table,  until  all  liave  par- 
taken. Then  with  a  subdued  utterance  they  sing  the  clos- 
ing hymn.  In  a  tremulous  voice,  yet  with  a  look  of  joy 
irradiating  his  dying  countenance,  Calvin  joins  in  its  solemu 
strain  : 

"  Now  let  thy  servant,  Lord  \ 

At  length  depart  in  peace ; 
According  to  thy  word, 

My  waiting  soul  release. 
For  thou  my  longing  eyes  hast  spared, 
To  see  thy  saving  grace  declared. 
To  see  thy  saving  grace. 

That  soon  dispensed  abroad, 
The  nations  shall  embrace. 

And  find  their  help  in  God ; 
A  light  to  lighten  every  land, 
The  glory  of  thy  cliosen  band."* 

And  so  he  passes  out  of  that  sacred  place,  never  again  to 
enter  it,  and  is  borne  to  his  own  home.  A  few  days  later  a 
solemn  procession  moves  from  the  town  hall  to  Calvin's  dwell- 
ing. It  is  the  council  about  to  hear  his  final  instructions 
and  take  leave  of  him  for  ever.  Soon  after  the  ministers  as- 
semble to  look  upon  him  once  more,  and  the  aged  Farel,  now 
past  fourscore,  travels  to  Geneva  to  take  the  hand  of  his  for- 
mer colleague  ere  the  heavens  should  receive  him.  With  ad- 
mirable simplicity  and  appropriateness  he  gives  them  all  his 
final  counsels,  and  commends  them  affectionately  to  the  care 
of  his  heavenly  Father.  Then  with  the  peace  and  joy  of 
anticipated  life  in  his  heart,  without  a  struggle  or  a  sigh,  just 

*  Baird's  "  Eutaxia,"  to  which  the  author  is  indebted  for  the  hymn  and  a 
part  of  this  description. 

26 


402      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

when  the  shadows  of  coming  night  darkened  over  Lake  Le- 
man,  while  still  the  pinnacles  of  the  Alps  that  towered  above 
liis  dwelling,  shone  in  the  calm  light  of  the  setting  sun,  this 
noble  soul  passed  from  the  darkness  of  earth  to  join  Melanc- 
thon  and  Luther  in  that  glorious  heaven  where  the  light  shall 
never  more  cease  to  shine.     And  so  he  died. 

More  than  two  centuries  have  passed  away,  and  we  enter 
another  chamber,  where  another  great  actor  in  the  scenes  of 
time  is  about  to  pass  from  earth.  He  is  an  old  man  of  four- 
score and  five  summers.  For  sixty  years  he  has  preached  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  For  fifty  years  he  has  been  the  leader  of  a 
glorious  reformation.  For  forty  years  he  has  been  the  earthly 
head  of  a  new  ecclesiastical  organization,  in  connection  with 
which  the  Spirit  of  God  has  breathed  into  tens  of  thousands 
the  peace  of  a  Christian  faith.  With  the  harness  still  on,  he 
is  stricken  down.  He  has  never  sought  for  rest,  save  as  he 
rested  in  the  great  work  to  which  his  life  was  given.  Disease 
and  pain  he  has  hardly  known.  Death  has  come  to  him 
gently  as  the  natural  decay  of  the  mortal  tenement — not  as 
the  tempest  or  the  fire  j)rematurely  unroofs  or  consumes,  but 
as  time  with  its  subtle  and  slow-working  forces  loosens  the 
mortar  from  the  walls  and  rots  the  timbers.  He,  the  father 
of  his  people,  the  servant  of  God,  distinguished  as  the  instru- 
ment of  vast  benedictions  to  millions,  once  reviled  and  mobbed 
as  a  fanatic  and  a  disturber,  now  honored  by  the  united  voice 
of  a  great  ^Deople  as  God's  chosen  minister,  feels  that  the  time 
of  his  departure  has  at  length  come.  In  the  complete  pos- 
session of  his  faculties,  his  heart  full  of  peace  and  hope,  with 
every  thing  arranged  for  this  world  and  the  world  to  come,  he 
falls  asleep  to  awake  in  that  world  where  the  martyrs  and 
confessors  of  all  ages,  and  those  who  have  been  wise  to  win 
souls,  shine  as  living  stars  for  evermore. 

These  great  men,  whose  characteristics  I  have  now  sketched, 
are  not  men  of  the  past.  They  live,  they  labor,  they  consti- 
tute mighty  influences  at  work  in  the  bosom  of  our  great  re- 
public. The  church  of  Wesley,  not  only  by  its  prodigious 
numerical  expansion,  but  also  by  its  rapid  progress  in  intelli- 


JOHN     CALVIN      AND      JOHN      WESLEY.        403 

gence,  its  schools,  its  higher  seminaries  and  colleges,  its  deep 
and  steady  enthusiasm,  is  growing  into  a  power  of  incalcula- 
ble influence  upon  the  future  of  millions  on  this  continent. 
We  may  refuse  to  recognize  it ;  we  may  think  of  it  as  it  once 
was,  a  fervent,  rude,  ignorant  innovator  ;  but,  despite  our 
opinions,  lo  !  it  rises  before  us  a  compact,  gigantic,  symmet- 
rical organism,  animated  with  sincere  devotion,  sustained  by 
an  indomitable  will,  informed  by  an  hourly  advancing  intelli- 
gence, its  one  foot  washed  by  the  Atlantic,  the  other  by  the 
Missouri,  with  one  hand  in  Maine  and  another  in  California, 
everywhere  at  work  and  everywhere  triumphant. 

Calvin,  too,  is  here  visible  in  all  our  institutions.  Our 
great  Kevolution  was  but  the  enfranchisement  of  the  youth — 
the  introduction  of  that  youth  to  the  rights  of  manhood. 
That  youth  had  his  growth  long  years  before  the  muskets  of 
Bunker  Hill  and  the  cannon  of  Yorktown  thundered  forth  his 
accession  to  man's  estate.  Our  rej)ublicanism  was  born  on  the 
banks  of  Lake  Leman.  Hoary-headed  Jura  smiled  upon  his 
cradle  ;  the  music  of  the  avalanche  and  the  roaring  cataracts  of 
the  Arve  were  his  nightly  lullaby.  Three  hundred  yeare  ago, 
Calvin  enunciated  and  organized  the  principles  which  gave 
being  and  form  to  our  national  life.  Before  his  death  he  sought 
to  realize  what  we  now  see  on  this  continent.  He  planned 
and  sent  forth  a  colony  to  be  planted  on  these  shores — a  col- 
ony of  Huguenots,  which  should  found  a  Protestant  republic. 
This  plan  failed  of  execution  through  the  treachery  of  the  per- 
son chosen  to  carry  it  out.  Calvin  died.  He  saw  not  this  asy- 
lum for  his  oppressed  countrymen  opening  its  portals.  But  his 
words,  his  thoughts,  his  principles  lived  still.  These,  scat- 
tered broadcast  over  France,  Holland,  and  Great  Britain, 
penetrated  the  souls  of  millions.  They  were  brought  hither 
in  Grod's  better  time.  They  lived,  they  grew  vigorously  on 
this  virgin  soil.  Their  roots  sank  down  and  embraced  the 
solid  granite.  Their  branches  spread  out  bold  and  free.  In 
other  lands  they  were  dwarfed  and  impeded  by  the  time- 
cemented  walls  of  monarchical  institutions.  Here,  in  nature's 
grand  temple,  with   the  heavens  for  their  roofing  and  the 


404    HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS, 

ocean  for  their  boundary ,  they  grew  up  in  solid,  majestic  full- 
ness. Neglected,  despised,  they  gi'ew  all  the  more  rapidly. 
Natural  obstacles,  aboriginal  hostilities,  the  battle  with  the 
forest  and  its  denizens,  hardened,  consolidated,  strengthened 
them.  Then,  when  the  fiercest  tempest  came,  when  the  Rev- 
olution swept  over  them,  they  stood  firm,  they  rose  proudly 
above  it,  and  still  to  this  day  they  flourish  in  the  vigor  of  an 
early  youth.  No  man  in  whose  intellect  and  heart  the  prin- 
ciples of  Calvin  have  their  home,  can  be  any  thing  else  than 
a  freeman.  In  New  England  or  Virginia,  in  Ohio  or  on  the 
plains  of  Kansas,  he  must  be  untrue  to  himself  and  to  his 
God,  before  he  can  tamely  put  his  neck  beneath  the  yoke  of 
the  0]3pressor,  or  put  his  foot  upon  the  neck  of  the  oj^pressed. 
The  first  declaration  of  independence  in  these  colonies  was  the 
work  of  a  Calvinistic  minister.  Into  Church  and  State,  Cal- 
\an,  above  all  men  of  the  past,  has  breathed  his  spirit,  and 
his  principles  have  modeled  our  great  republic. 

I  have  already  remarked  that  the  influence  of  this  great 
mind  was  eminently  favorable  to  education.  Wherever  his 
spirit  has  gone,  there  it  has  created  institutions  of  learning, 
and  made  the  school-house  and  the  college  the  noble  allies  of 
the  Church.  In  this  new  world  it  early  reared  such  institu- 
tions. It  built  up  the  school  and  the  academy  in  every  vil- 
lage. It  inaugurated  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  education, 
and  advanced  in  the  breadth  and  fullness  of  its  views  on  this 
subject  far  beyond  the  old  world,  where  first  it  rose.  The 
genius  of  our  country,  interpenetrated  by  it,  reveals  here  the 
same  free,  bold,  original  development  which  has  already  sub- 
dued a  continent,  spread  its  adventurous  commerce  round  the 
globe,  and  carried  the  practical  arts  and  sciences  beyond  the 
limits  reached  in  the  lands  from  whence  we  sprung.  Not 
merely  for  the  sons,  but  also  for  the  daughtei*s  of  our  coun- 
try, it  has  opened  wide  the  gates  of  knowledge.  Where,  in 
any  part  of  the  globe  we  inhabit,  does  there  exist  a  spirit  so 
general  and  earnest  in  its  purpose  of  securing  the  advantages 
of  female  education,  or  institutions  more  numerous  and  bet- 
ter adapted  to  meet  that  purpose  than  in  this  land  ?    Among 


JOHN      CALVIN      AND     JOHN     WESLEY.  405 

the  thoughtful  of  our  countrymen — and  they  comprise  the 
vast  majority — the  full,  the  free  development  of  the  intellect 
of  woman  is  just  as  well  settled  as  any  other  axiom  of  educa- 
tion. Its  limit  in  the  case  of  either  sex  is  the  same — a  limit 
created  hy  the  necessities  of  life,  and  not  at  all  by  any  inhe- 
rent difference  in  the  nature  of  the  subject. 

Under  the  quickening  influences  of  this  creative  spirit, 
institutions  of  female  education  rise  on  all  sides.  All  aim  to 
educate  woman,  but  the  extent  and  character  of  this  educa- 
tion, and  the  manner  of  filling  out  the  idea,  are  not  by  any 
means  the  same.  Some  seek  mainly  to  polish  the  manners  ; 
some  to  impart  a  few  outward  accomplishments  ;  some  to 
strengthen  and  adorn  the  intellect ;  some  to  combine  a  thor- 
ough intellectual  with  a  truly  Christian  development.  The 
institution  whose  first  commencement  we  this  day  celebrate, 
stands  forth  unique  and  singular  in  this  western  world. 
Other  institutions  may  excel  this  in  the  mere  artistical  forms 
of  education,  and  others  may  equal  it  in  mere  literary  advan- 
t.ages — for  neither  of  these  constitute  its  great  ideal.  Its 
chief  peculiarity  lies  in  the  extent  to  which  it  combines  the 
intellectual  with  the  practical.  It  guides  the  hand  while  it 
polishes  the  manners,  disciplines  the  aifections  and  develops 
the  intellect.  It  unites  womanly  thinking  to  womanly  act- 
ing. It  marries  labor  and  learning  ;  the  domestic  and  the 
literary  life.  It  disciplines  the  whole  woman  to  her  work  as 
a  thinker  and  a  doer.  It  ennobles  woman's  domestic  avoca- 
tions by  penetrating  them  with  the  spirit  of  a  Christian  litera- 
ture. It  combines  in  itself  more  completely  than  any  other 
institution,  all  those  forms  of  education  which  go  to  make 
an  earnest,  complete,  intelligent,  practical.  Christian  woman. 
This  was  the  gi-and  idea  of  that  truly  illustrious  lady,  in 
whose  mind  the  plan  of  this  seminary  had  its  first  conception, 
and  under  whose  supervision  it  received  its  first  successful 
development.  This  marks  its  whole  spirit  and  working.  If 
any  man  wishes  his  daughter  to  be  a  fashionable  doll,  let  him 
not  send  her  here  ;  we  cultivate  no  such  plants.  If  any  man 
wishes  his  daughter  to  shine  only  in  the  light  of  artistic  accom- 


406       HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAY8. 

plisliments,  let  him  not  send  her  here  ;  for  these  we  cultivate 
in  strict  subordination  to  another — a  higher  ideal.  If  any  man 
seeks  simply  to  make  his  daughter  a  mere  scholar,  there  are 
other  institutions  where  this  can  be  eifected  as  well  as  here. 
But  if  a  man  wishes  to  see  his  daughter  develop  her  powers 
in  the  line  of  a  true  woman's  life — if  he  covets  foi-  her  the 
crown  of  an  earnest-minded  woman,  inspired  with  lofty  aims, 
conscious  of  power  for  good,  and  determined  to  use  it  aright 
— a  woman  whose  disciplined  head,  and  heart,  and  hand,  are 
all  prepared  for  a  life  of  ennobled  Christian  action,  in  any 
and  every  field  that  she  may  properly  call  her  own,  then  let 
him  send  her  here.  In  this  institution  she  is  to  be  no  longer 
a  passive  recipient  or  a  jiartially-developed  flower,  but  part 
of  the  active  forces  which  work  for  a  grand  end.  Here  she  is 
something  ;  a  giver  as  well  as  receiver  ;  a  steady,  joyous,  on- 
ward thinker  and  actor.  She  is  the  coefficient  of  a  family 
where  all  is  life,  thought,  labor,  recreation,  praise.  She 
helps  sustain  this  family  ;  she  contributes  to  its  efficiency, 
its  economy,  its  order,  its  usefulness  ;  she  is  one  of  the  living 
wheels  within  the  great  wheel,  that  inspires,  that  moves  it 
onward.  She  drops  at  the  door  of  this  seminary  the  idea  that 
her  father  pays  so  much  money  for  which  she  is  to  receive  so 
much  knowledge.  She  enters  here  as  herself  a  vital  element 
of  this  household.  At  once  she  begins  to  occupy  the  position 
which  every  true  woman  is  to  hold  in  after  life — the  position 
of  a  power  for  good,  for  self-support,  for  the  progress  and 
elevation  of  society  and  domestic  life.  This  gives  digjiity  to 
her  step.  Her  very  air  proclaims  that  she  has  a  purpose  in 
life — that  she  is  not  a  plaything  nor  a  loiterer,  but  a  noble 
Christian  lady,  with  high  aims  and  power  to  realize  them. 
Her  office  may  be  seemingly  unimportant  ;  she  may  perform 
the  lightest  part  of  the  household  duties  ;  but  such  as  it  is, 
she  knows  that  it  is  something  essential  to  the  economy  of 
the  family,  and  one  of  the  wheels  that  if  clogged  must  de- 
range the  whole  machinery.  Entering  into  this  mutually 
helpful  society,  how  soon  will  its  spirit  penetrate  her  ?  She 
comes  here    trembling,   doubtful,  fearful,  dreading  almost 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WESLEY.  407 

what  is  before  her.  But  soon  her  fears  depart.  She  breathes 
a  new  atmosphere  ;  she  feels  its  inspiring  influence  ;  she 
learns  to  love  order,  to  rejoice  in  being  an  helper  and  a 
worker,  to  feel  the  dignity  of  action  directed  to  a  good  pur- 
pose. Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  the  discipline  of  order, 
of  economy,  of  intelligent  action  she  daily  receives  ?  Mean- 
while the  head  is  clearer  for  thought,  the  body  grows  more 
symmetrical,  graceful,  and  beautiful,  while  the  heart  is  more 
sensitive  to  the  realities  of  this  life  and  the  claims  of  the  life 
to  come.  She  who  came  here  immature  and  almost  helpless, 
goes  forth  after  the  prescribed  curriculum,  an  intelligent,  re- 
fined, self-trusting,  earnest,  well-developed  lady.  She  is  pre- 
pared to  nurture  and  to  bless  a  race  of  noble  freemen.  Place 
her  where  you  please,  her  spirit  will  bless,  her  intelligence 
illumine,  her  accomplishments  adorn,  and  her  active  life  en- 
noble and  stimulate  the  whole  circle  within  which  she  moves. 

In  such  a  family  as  this,  it  follows  of  necessity  that  there 
must  be  limitations  as  to  age  and  mental  attainments.  It  is 
neither  a  nursery,  nor  a  preparatory  school  for  mere  girls. 
There  must  be  some  ripeness  of  body  and  mind  in  the  pupil 
who  would  profit  herself  by  the  thorough  study,  and  profit 
others  by  fulfilling  the  domestic  avocations  of  such  an  insti- 
tution. It  holds,  in  respect  to  other  schools  of  more  ambi- 
tious names,  the  relation  of  a  university  to  the  academy.  It 
disciplines  minds  in  the  direction  of  life's  great  duties  and 
woman's  peculiar  work,  just  as  the  university  trains  minds 
for  distinct  professions. 

Of  course,  its  discipline  must  be  strict,  its  order  must  be 
perfect.  This  is  not  the  place  for  young  minds  to  amuse 
themselves.  These  young  ladies  have  a  higher  mission  just 
now,  than  to  waste  their  time  with  those  who  are  too  lazy  to 
improve  the  golden  hours  of  youth  themselves,  or  too  silly  not 
to  appreciate  the  position  and  objects  of  those  who  assemble 
here.  Even  a  parent,  in  his  mistaken  fondness,  may  forget 
the  necessity  that  exists  here,  that  his  child  should  not  be 
jostled  out  of  her  place  in  the  beautiful  and  orderly  system 
of  this  family  arrangement.     I  say  even  a  parent  may  need 


408      HISTOEICAL    DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

to  be  reminded  that  the  success  of  this  plan  depends  abso- 
lutely upon  the  promptness  and  regularity  with  which  every 
pupil,  and  his  daughter  among  the  rest,  is  in  her  place  and 
fulfills  her  duty.  In  this  our  free  land,  where,  alas  !  too 
often  the  children  rule  the  parents,  where  in  many  a  family 
domestic  discipline  is  unknown,  it  seems  almost  a  perilous 
experiment  to  plant  an  institution  which  embodies  and  car- 
ries out  the  purest  idea  of  family  order.  Here,  there,  every- 
where, it  seems  as  if  it  would  impinge  upon  the  disorderly 
freedom  of  the  girl,  or  the  ca^jtious  indulgence  of  the  girl's 
parents.  But  after  all,  I  do  not  sympathize  with — I  never 
have  from  the  beginning  sympathized  with  the  tremors,  the 
evil  auguries  of  those  who  deem  that  on  this  rock  our  noble 
ship  will  strilce  a  shattered  wreck  :  for  I  know  that  beneath 
this  superficial  looseness  of  our  life,  there  is  a  great  and  a 
noble  heart,  a  sound  and  a  practical  common  sense  ;  and  I 
have  never  doubted  but  that  when  once  this  institution  comes 
to  be  thoroughly  understood,  and  is  permitted  to  make  its 
appeal  direct  to  this  clear-sighted  judgment,  and  this  right 
royal  spirit  of  our  western  life,  that  we  shall  all  take  it  to  our 
bosoms  as  one  of  our  most  useful  friends  ;  and  that  then,  in- 
stead of  waiting  for  pupils,  we  shall  find  its  doors  besieged 
by  a  crowd  eager  to  enjoy  its  high  advantages. 

For  where  on  the  surface  of  this  globe,  in  all  lands  and 
climes,  can  you  find  as  thoroughly  earnest  and  intelligently 
j)ractical  a  class  of  men  and  women  as  dwell  on  these  western 
hills  and  prairies  ?  We  have  dug  up  forests'  that  flourished 
in  a  green  old  age  when  the  Norman  conquered  old  Saxon 
England.  We  have  built  cities  and  towns,  and  adorned  them 
with  schools  and  colleges,  faster  than  any  nation  before  us. 
We  have  spread  the  sails  of  a  more  numerous  and  a  richer 
commerce  in  half  a  century  than  the  East  has  done  in  two 
centuries.  We  have  laid  down  more  railroads  and  achieved 
greater  material  triumphs,  and  done  more  to  bind  this  vast 
valley  together  in  the  chains  of  a  true  civilization,  in  a  few 
years,  than  all  the  world  besides  in  centuries.  The  western 
heart  will  trust  and  follow  a  hard-working,  intelligent  man, 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WESLEY.  409 

wherever  it  finds  liim.  It  will  love  and  rejoice  in,  and  almost 
worship,  a  pure-minded,  earnest,  intelligent  woman,  wherever 
it  sees  her.  And  if  there  be  a  place  on  all  the  continents  of 
earth,  that  is  just  the  place  to  plant  such  an  institution  as 
this,  and  gather  round  it  deep  sympathies,  and  fervent  prayers, 
and  strong  hands,  it  is  surely  here  in  this  great  western  valley, 
among  this  practical  people.  Aye  !  and  have  we  not  found 
it  so  even  in  our  short  experience  ?  Whence  comes  this  deep 
interest,  this  quiet  enthusiasm,  these  numerous  applicants 
that  to-day  greet  us  ?  Whence  is  it  that,  in  a  single  year,  so 
many  hearts  were  opened  to  respond  to  our  appeal  for  funds 
to  rear  these  lofty  walls  and  prepare  this  goodly  spot  for  the 
inauguration  of  this  institution  ?  Yes  !  these  old  oaks  that 
tower  around  us  rejoice  to-day  that  while  beneath  their  shade 
the  Indian  tomahawk  gleams  no  more,  and  the  Indian  squaw 
wears  out  her  life  no  more  in  the  hard  labors  which  her  proud 
lord  forced  upon  her,  the  daughters  of  a  fairer  race,  in  the 
bloom  of  their  opening  beauty,  here  circle  in  merry  sports, 
and  develop  a  lofty  and  noble  character,  and  prepare  them- 
selves to  live  the  life  of  true  Christian  women.  And  from 
this  spot,  this  jewel  on  the  fair  brow  of  our  State,  richer  far 
than  those  which  flame  in  kingly  coronets,  there  is  to  go 
forth  in  widening  circles  an  influence  that  is  to  accumulate 
in  power  until  it  spreads  its  holy  benedictions  over  all  this 
western  world, 

Mr.  President,*  I  feel  that  before  this  address  is  concluded, 
it  belongs  to  me  to  discharge  a  most  grateful  office  toward 
yourself  and  the  teachers  and  pupils  of  this  seminary.  Here, 
on  this  17th  of  July,  1856,  on  this  the  first  anniversary  of  an 
institution  in  the  inception  and  establishment  of  which  you 
have  borne  the  chief  part ;  in  the  presence  of  this  multitude  of 
sympathizing  friends,  I  tender  to  you  my  warai  congi'atula- 
tions.  Little  did  I  anticipate,  when  first  you  suggested  this 
project,  that  its  completion  in  such  grand  proportions  would 
so  soon  stand  forth  a  visible  fact.     To-day  the  enthusiasm, 

*  Rev.  Daniel  Tenuey,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 


410      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

the  indomitable  purpose,  the  tireless  energy,  the  habitual 
recognition  of  a  high,  a  holy  end,  which  animated  you,  wins 
the  crown.  Looking  down  upon  this  lovely  scene,  and  up  at 
yonder  lofty  edifice,  did  you  possess  the  spirit  of  an  old  Koman, 
you  might  exclaim,  ^^Hoc  monumentum  cere  perennius  exegil" 
But  you  have  drank  inspiration  from  another  fountain  ;  you 
have  learned  wisdom  from  another  and  a  better  teacher  ;  you 
have  felt  that,  "  except  the  Lord  build  the  house,  they  labor 
in  vain  that  .build  it ;  except  the  Lord  keep  the  city,  the 
watchman  waketh  but  in  vain."  You  will  be  among  the  first 
to  recognize  that  divine  benediction,  without  which  our  might- 
iest and  wisest  efforts  are  utterly  powerless.  We  thank  God 
that  he  inspired  the  idea  and  the  purpose  to  realize  this  idea  ; 
that  he  gave  you  resolution  and  wisdom  to  lay  these  founda- 
tions so  firm  and  broad ;  and  that  he  gives  us  this  day  so  aus- 
picious a  commencement  of  what,  we  doubt  not,  is  to  be  a 
most  noble  future.  May  you  live  to  see  many  classes  of 
graduates  passing  from  this  place  to  shed  abroad  the  influ- 
ence of  refined,  intelligent  Christian  women,  and  then  in  a 
better  world  see  the  full  and  happy  results  of  this  gi'eat 
undertaking  ! 

Pemiit  me  also,  in  behalf  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  on 
this  occasion,  to  tender  to  you,  our  respected  principal,"*  and 
your  excellent  associates  in  the  instruction  and  management 
of  this  institution,  our  w\armest  congratulations.  You  came 
here  a  stranger  in  novel  circumstances — circumstances  which 
led  some  to  anticipate  a  failure — to  organize  and  set  in  motion 
heterogeneous  elements,  and  give  to  this  western  world  an 
illustration  of  that  peculiar  discipline  which  in  other  circum- 
stances and  under  special  influences  had  challenged  our  ad- 
miration. A  few  months  have  passed.  You  are  no  more  a 
stranger.  Aided  by  your  faithful  and  intelligent  associates, 
you  have  successfully  organized  this  institution,  and  this  week 
we  have  begun  to  gather  in  its  first  ripe  fruits.  We  congrat- 
ulate you  on  the  success  of  this  great  experiment.    You  have 

*  Miss  Helen  Peabody. 


JOHN     CALVIN     AND     JOHN     WESLEY.  411 

amply  vindicated  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  which  led  to  its 
establishment ;  you  have  earned  a  high  plac(3  in  onr  esteem. 
We  trust  that  this  day  will  be  the  type  of  many  anniversa- 
ries in  which  you  shall  send  forth  class  after  class  disciplined 
in  mind  and  heart  for  the  labors  of  life. 

Young  ladies,  I  can  not  take  leave  of  this  audience  with- 
out addressing  a  parting  word  to  you.  I  have  spoken  of  your 
teachers  as  those  who  have  successfully  organized  this  seminary; 
but  I  would  be  doing  you  wrong  not  to  recognize  your  share 
in  this  success.  Your  sisterly  affection  ;  your  womanly  honor, 
mutually  reliant  and  trustful ;  your  intelligent  alacrity  in  sus- 
taining the  interests  of  this  your  novel  family  organization  ; 
your  obedient,  free-hearted  life  ;  your  quick  perception  of  the 
necessity  and  advantage  of  that  discipline  which  constitutes 
the  organic  power  of  this  seminary,  and  more  than  all,  your 
deep  interest  in  that  practical  Christianity  which  is  here  the 
centraHziug,  vitalizing  energy  that  puts  the  whole  of  these 
activities  in  motion,  and  concentrates  them  to  their  high  end: 
these  things  constitute  you,  with  your  teachers,  the  founders 
of  this  beneficent  institution. 

The  future  will  have  its  color  from  this  young  past  and 
present.  When  years  have  rolled  away,  and  your  daughters 
come  up  hither  with  you  to  sit  as  you  now  sit,  beneath  the 
shade  of  these  venerable  trees,  as  you  meet  each  other  again, 
how  will  you  point  back  with  pride  to  this  year  past — live 
o'er  again  the  healthful  excitements  of  this  period,  and  speak 
of  those  who  here  are  with  you  now,  then  off  on  missions  of 
love  all  over  the  land,  or  gathered  lovingly  around  the  throne 
on  high.  Yes  !  gathered  there  ;  some,  perhaps  many  of  you, 
ere  that  day  shall  come,  with  those  already  gone,  will  be  in 
another  world.  But  if  now  ye  love  Jesus,  then  ye  will  not 
cease  to  thank  and  praise  him  for  what  these  instructors  here 
did,  when  in  this  your  opening  womanhood  you  listened  to 
their  words  of  love  and  peace  and  light.  In  a  few  days,  I 
hope,  with  your  beloved  principal,  to  visit  another,  the  only 
other  such  institution  as  this.  I  hope  to  stand  where  Mount 
Holyoke  flings  his  morning,  and  Mount  Tom  his  evening  shad- 


412         HISTO  EPICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

ows  across  the  quiet  stream  and  lovely  intervals  of  the  Con- 
necticut. There,  beside  the  grave  of  her  whose  intellect  shaped 
this  beautiful  and  beneficent  organism,  and  whose  Christian 
spirit  breathed  it  into  life,  we  will  bear  to  the  daughters  of 
the  East  the  greetings  of  these  young  daughters  of  the  free, 
the  boundless,  the  hopeful,  and  the  mighty  West.  We  will 
tell  them  of  the  light  which,  kindled  at  their  altar,  and  borne 
hither  by  vestals  from  their  honored  shrine,  now  flames  so 
brightly  amid  our  milder  skies.  And  as  of  old  the  cannon 
roared,  and  the  loud  huzzas  of  millions  echoed  from  hill  to 
vale  across  a  continent  when  New  York's  noble  son,  her  great- 
est Clinton,  mingled  the  waters  of  our  Lake  Erie  with  the 
waters  of  the  Hudson,  so  will  we  begin  the  anthem  of  praise, 
that  as  it  rolls  above  the  Alleghanies,  and  stays  not  till  it 
mingles  with  the  roar  of  the  surges  of  the  broad  Pacific,  shall 
celebrate  the  mingling  together  of  the  streams  of  holy  influ- 
ence from  the  East  and  the  West  in  one  tide  of  love  and  light 
and  power  for  ever. 


I 


XII. 

.   HISTORY,  THE  UNFOLDING  OF    GOD'S 
PROVIDENCE.* 

"  Give  ear,  0  my  people,  to  my  law ;  incliae  your  ears  to  the  words  of  my 
mouth.  I  will  open  my  mouth  in  a  parable ;  I  wUl  utter  dark  sayings  of  old  ; 
which  we  have  heard  and  known,  and  our  fathers  have  told  us.  We  will  not 
hide  them  from  their  children,  showing  to  the  generation  to  come,  the  praises  of 
the  Lord,  and  his  strength,  and  his  wonderful  works  that  he  hath  done.  For  he 
estabhshed  a  testimony  in  Jacob,  and  appointed  a  law  in  Israel,  which  he  com- 
manded our  fathers  that  they  should  make  them  known  to  the  children ;  that  the 
generation  to  come  might  know  them,  even  the  children  which  should  be  bom, 
who  should  arise  and  declare  them  to  their  children  ;  that  they  might  set  tlieir 
hope  in  God,  and  not  forget  the  works  of  God,  but  keep  his  commandments." — 
PsALir  Ixxviii.  1-7. 

The  preservation  of  their  history  was  among  the  sacred 
obligations  of  the  children  of  Israel.  To  them  had  been  com- 
mitted in  trust  the  only  authentic  records  of  the  race  from 
Adam  to  Abraham.  In  Abraham,  the  Church,  as  sej^arate 
in  form  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  had  its  origin.  Previously 
spread  abroad,  and  manifesting  itself  in  here  and  there  an  in- 
dividual, it  now  entered  into  special  relations  with  a  single 
family.  Along  the  line  of  their  descent,  the  divine  ministra- 
tions for  their  preservation  shone  forth  luminously.  Victories, 
miracles,  and  wonderful  providences  distinguished  their  his- 
tory. God,  who  was  indeed  present  with  all  nations,  and 
wrought  among  them  all,  yet  here  exhibited  most  powerfully 
his  spiritual  presence,  and  disj)layed  the  clearest  light  of  his 
truth.  It  was  incumbent  on  the  fathers  of  each  generation  to 
see  to  it,  that  a  history  so  full  of  instruction  should  be  asso- 
ciated vviih  the  thoughts,  and  vividly  impressed  upon  the 

*  A  discourse  occasioned  by  the  death  of  the  Hon,  Jacob  Burnet,  LL.D.,  of 
Cincinnati,  Ohio.     Delivered  May  29,  1853. 


414      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS, 


memory  of  every  cliild  as  it  gi-ew  to  raanliood.  It  was  for 
them  to  see  to  it,  tliat  from  tlie  earliest  dawn  of  intelligence, 
the  events  of  this  grand  history  should  begin  to  enter  the 
mind,  color  the  imagiDation,  awaken  emotions  of  reverence 
toward  God  and  patriotism  toward  the  land  and  race  over 
which  this  God  thus  gloriously  ruled.  And  if  you  would  seek 
for  one  cause  more  powerful  than  any  other,  which  has  con- 
tributed to  maintain  the  distinctiveness  of  Israel,  in  all  his 
wanderings,  and  the  pertinacious  adherence  to  the  faith  of  his 
fathers,  amid  the  perils  of  persecution  and  the  seductions  of- 
pleasure,  for  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years,  you  will  find  it 
in  his  early  familiarity  with  this,  the  most  wonderful  among  all 
written  and  unwritten  histories,  and  the  complete  possession 
which,  from  childhood  upward,  the  past  gloiy  of  his  nation 
obtained  of  his  entire  soul.  It  is  the  consciousness  of  belong- 
ing to  such  a  race  that  clothes  his  spirit  with  dignity,  while 
his  body  is  covered  with  meanness,  and  that  makes  him  look 
down  upon  kings,  while  he  seems  timidly  to  crouch  at  their 
feet.  Though  the  sun  of  his  glory  has  long  since  gone  down 
in  darkness — though  century  drags  along  century,  protracting 
the  weary  vigils  of  his  Kabbis,  and  mocking  the  interpreta- 
tions of  his  doctors — yet  the  very  sky  which  to  others  is  ob- 
scured by  clouds,  wild  and  gloomy,  is  illuminated  to  him  in 
colors  of  beauty  and  hope,  by  the  backward  beams  of  his 
sunken  luminary.  So  early  did  he  learn  the  past,  so  soon 
were  its  glories  poured  around  his  being,  that  even  the  awful 
chill  and  blackness  of  the  present  can  not  wholly  take  from 
him  the  influence  of  its  brilliant  hopes  and  prophetic  grand- 
eur. For  purposes  like  these,  God  obliged  the  Israelite  to 
teach  his  children  the  history  of  his  State  and  Church — so 
mighty  a  weapon  is  this  in  hands  skillful  to  wield  it  over  the 
opening  minds  of  youth. 

Nor  is  this  a  singular  case.  The  history  of  any  State — 
even  where  that  State  has  been  degraded,  but  especially  if  it 
be  glorious  and  in  harmony  with  its  institutions — is  an  in- 
strument of  vast  influence  in  the  education  of  men.  It  will 
act  as  a  plastic  presence,  subtle,  ethereal,  stealing  into  the 


HISTOKY,    THE    UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE.     415 

mind,  and  unconsciously  molding  the  heart.  Silently,  as 
thoughts  of  the  past  come  to  dwell  in  the  soul,  will  the  young 
mind  unconsciously  drink  in  the  powerful  inspiration ;  silently, 
the  memory  receives  impressions  never  to  be  effaced;  silently, 
the  imagination,  seizing  hold  of  the  facts  of  the  past,  repro- 
duces them  in  vivid  and  glowing  pictures,  while  the  reason 
joyfully  submits  to  follow  in  the  path  of  so  amiable  a  prej- 
udice. The  history  of  our  own  land,  early  taught  to  our  sons,  is 
a  great  bulwark  of  liberty.  Its  influence  in  perpetuating' that 
American  spirit  which  has  created  it,  is  beyond  measure  pow- 
erful. The  history  of  Scotland  and  of  England  is  reproduc- 
ing itself  continually,  as  the  planted  acorn  brings  forth  the 
oak.  An  instrument  for  the  education  of  the  human  mind 
like  this,  is  surely  too  precious  to  be  neglected — too  mighty 
to  be  despised. 

History  has  been  divided  into  sacred  and  profane.  But 
the  division,  although  convenient,  is  apt  to  associate  with 
history  a  false  idea.  There  is  no  history  profane  in  the  sense 
of  being  atheistic  or  without  Grod.  Profane  it  may  be  from 
the  sin  and  folly  it  records,  but  profane  it  is  not  from  the  ab- 
sence of  a  providence  that  runs  through  and  works  through 
it  all.  The  race  of  man  is  still  one — descended  from  one 
parent,  subject  to  one  law,  exposed  to  one  death,  to  be  saved 
by  one  Saviour.  The  history  of  the  world  is  not  a  series  of 
disjointed  fragments,  without  concinnity,  order,  purpose  and 
unity.  The  world,  with  its  oceans,  continents,  saharas,  frozen 
regions,  burning  tropics,  forms  but  a  single  globe,  every  part 
of  which  bears  a  just  relation  to  every  other  part.  The  oceans 
have  a  settled  and  necessary  proportion  to  the  continents,  the 
streams  to  the  land,  the  plains  to  the  mountains,  the  deserts 
to  the  gardens,  the  ever  green  to  the  ever  frozen.  The  met- 
als, the  coal  beds,  the  forests,  are  in  due  proportion  to  the 
size  of  the  planet  and  the  wants  of  its  inhabitants.  Its  posi- 
tion toward  the  sun  and  moon  is  precisely  the  best  arrange- 
ment for  the  gi-eater  number  of  its  people  ;  and  thus  all  its 
parts  form  a  whole,  arranged  by  the  single  mind  of  Jehovah, 


416         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

admirably  adapted  from  their  peculiar  combination  to  answer 
one  grand  end. 

It  is  thus  with  the  race  itself.  Divided  into  nations, 
tribes,  families,  scattered  over  all  parts  of  the  world,  subject 
to  various  conditions,  each  part  has  still  a  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  man  ;  and  the  providence  of  God  has  a  lesson  to 
teach  the  universe,  from  each  one  of  these  sejiarate  and  seem- 
ingly disjointed  members  of  the  human  family,  that  shall 
contribute  something  absolutely  essential  to  the  final  com- 
pleteness of  the  illustration  of  God's  excellence,  for  which  the 
world  was  created.  The  providence  of  God  runs  through 
each  separate  branch  of  human  history  as  'the  sap  pervades 
the  outermost  branches  of  a  tree,  and  gives  to  the  whole  a 
unity  of  form  and  life.  The  purpose  of  God  in  the  creation 
of  man  could  not  be  answered  without  this  vast  variety  in  the 
illustration  of  great  principles,  without  subjecting  intelligent 
moral  natures  to  all  conditions,  and  permitting  them  to  work 
out  their  appropriate  results.  There  are  some  streams  that 
occasionally  disappear  from  sight,  running  underground  for  a 
time,  then  reappearing  on  the  surface  ;  so  the  providential 
government  of  God  seems  to  be  lost  from  the  sight,  in  refer- 
ence to  some  nations,  until  at  length  it  suddenly  reveals  its 
presence  and  its  purpose.  The  stream  of  that  overflowing 
government  penetrates  all  climes  and  nations.  It  is  not  with- 
out a  design  worthy  of  the  Infinite,  that  one  part  of  the  de- 
scendants of  Noah  were  impelled  into  Ethiopia,  where,  isolated 
from  the  rest  of  men,  and  blackened  by  the  sun,  they  gi-ew 
into  so  strange  a  variety  of  the  race.  Not  in  vain  has  China 
submitted  to  other  conditions,  and  illustrated  the  operation 
of  other  princij)les.  Not  a  tribe,  however  far  they  may  have 
wandered,  on  whatever  isle  of  the  ocean  they  may  have  been 
blown,  like  sea-weed,  from  other  shores  ;  not  a  nation,  or 
series  of  nations  ;  not  a  battle,  an  invention,  a  single  condi- 
tion in  the  lives  of  men,  that  fulfills  not  some  important  mis- 
sion in  the  government  of  Jehovah. 

To  a  full  appreciation  of  this  grand  scheme,  running  as  it 
does  through  all  history,  there  are  two  obstacles  ;  the  one  is 


HISTORY,     THE     UNFOLDING    OF     PROVIDENCE        417 

the  position  of  the  heart,  the  other  the  limited  power  of  the 
mind.  No  man  can  at  all  enter  into  this  amazing  providence 
whose  heart  is  not  in  sympathy  with  it.  Such  men  as  Hume, 
Gibbon,  Voltaire,  may  chronicle  facts,  in  most  pure  and  elo- 
quent language  ;  but  the  s})iritual  bigotry,  the  narrowness 
and  falsity  of  their  religious  conceptions,  unfit  them  for  ap- 
preciating the  remarkable  thread  of  divine  providence  that 
runs  through  the  events  they  record.  To  them,  those  facts 
are  merely  isolated  events  tending  to  no  grand  result  ;  while 
to  the  Christian  there  is  a  singular  coherence  in  them,  a  life 
of  God  that  runs  through  them  as  a  complete  whole,  illus- 
trating sublime  and  excellent  principles.  We  must  believe 
if  we  would  know  the  truth.  A  soul  involved  in  the  meshes 
of  skepticism  sees  all  things  confused  and  entangled;  his  very 
philosophy  is  nothing  but  confusion  worse  confounded — 
trains  of  events  springing  from  nothing,  leading  nowhere  ! 
But  when  the  believer,  with  only  the  same  intellectual  power, 
begins  to  survey  them,  he  beholds  a  thousand  lessons  of  wis- 
dom revealed  in  the  sunlight;  and  where  he  can  not  trace  out 
the  full  purpose,  he  may  yet  discover  some  of  the  subordinate 
designs. 

This  leads  me  to  say  that  the  other  obstacle  to  the  full 
comijrehension  of  the  providence  of  God  in  history  is  the  im- 
becility of  the  mind.  We  can  not  here  reach  a  position  suffi- 
ciently high  to  take  in  the  entire  field  of  the  divine  operations. 
This  providence  is  so  minute  and  so  extensive — ^reaching  to 
all  events  of  the  humblest  character,  and  comprehending  the 
entire  history  of  the  race — that  no  single  mind  can  here  fully 
know  all  the  facts,  far  less  arrange  them  according  to  the 
natural  order  which  they  assume  in  the  divine  mind.  Be- 
sides, the  history  of  the  race  is  incomplete.  Experiments 
and  illustrations  are  yet  in  progress.  Much  of  the  present  is 
linked  on  to  the  future,  and  we  must  wait  for  that  to  unfold 
its  real  character  ;  we  hold  one  end  of  the  thread,  but  where 
it  will  lead  us,  we  can  not  yet  fully  tell.  Now,  when,  at 
length,  these  two  obstacles  shall  be  removed — when,  taking 
our  stand  where  the  mind  can  gradually  look  all  over  the 

27 


418     HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS, 

workings  of  divine  providence  through  the  history  of  men,  we 
shall  be  able  to  appreciate  its  various  character — what  a 
scene  of  grandeur  and  glory  will  burst  upon  us  !  It  will  be 
more  sublime  than  the  vision  of  the  universe  of  stars  and 
suns,  moving  in  silent,  solemn  march  around  the  central 
palace  of  the  King  of  kings  !  When  the  mind  of  man  shall 
reach  that  position  he  will  behold  an  order,  a  wisdom  and  a 
glory,  where  now  he  sees  only  confusion,  folly  and  darkness. 
The  forcible  declaration  of  Jesus  will  then  be  magnificently 
illustrated,  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto  and  I  work,"  and 
the  product  will  be  so  grand,  so  glorious,  so  affecting,  as  to 
compel  adoration  and  wonder  for  ever  ! 

But  I  hasten  to  say  a  word  on  the  history  of  the  Church 
of  Christ.  The  religious  history  of  the  world  is  the  real  trunk 
of  all  history.  The  relation  of  man  to  God  takes  j)recedence 
of,  as  it  is  infinitely  more  important  than,  the  relations  of 
men  to  each  other,  and  the  physical  world.  The  civil  and 
social  developments  of  society  are  to  the  religious,  what  the 
outward  life  is  to  the  heart ;  what  the  leaves  and  branches 
are  to  the  trunk  of  the  tree.  And  the  great  trunk  with  which 
the  religious  history  of  all  men  is  to  be  connected,  and  from 
which  it  will  derive  its  unity,  is  the  Church  of  Christ.  All 
the  developments  of  national  character — the  workings  of  gov- 
ernment, of  popular  systems  of  faith,  of  errors,  and  partial 
truths,  of  forms  and  traditions,  of  art  and  science,  of  lan- 
guage and  eloquence,  of  revolutions  and  wars — are  but  parts 
of  a  wondrous  scheme,  in  which  the  truth  shall  be  made  lu- 
minous by  the  failures  of  errors  ;  and  the  redemption  of 
Christ,  with  the  influence  associated  with  it,  be  demonstrated 
by  experiments  of  vast  reach  and  prodigious  power,  to  be  the 
only  thing  that  can  save,  and  bless,  and  exalt  a  fallen  race. 
It  is  necessary  to  the  perfect  exhibition  of  the  transcendent 
power  and  glory  of  the  scheme  of  salvation  by  the  cross,  to 
permit  the  training  and  trial  of  men  under  all  other  forms  of 
belief  and  kinds  of  influence.  If  some  one  form  of  State  gov- 
ernment will  make  men  holy  and  happy,  why,  then,  the  cross 
of  Christ  is  unnecessary.     If  some  form  of  error,  systematized 


HISTORY,    THE     UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE        419 

and  wrought  into  efficiency  and  beauty,  will  do  as  well  to 
train  men  for  the  skies,  then  the  wisdom  of  God  in  Christ  is 
not  declared.  If  the  simple  plan  of  salvation  may  be  amended, 
on  the  one  hand,  by  striking  down  some  of  its  strongest  pil- 
lars, or  on  the  other,  by  superadding  a  mass  of  human  forms 
and  superstitious  observances,  so  as  to  be  a  better  instrument 
for  the  deliverance  of  men  from  guilt  and  pollution,  and  their 
preparation  for  immortality,  then  is  Grod's  truth  in  that  scheme 
of  redemption,  in  part,  useless  or  insufficient ;  and  the  In- 
finite must  divide  with  the  finite,  the  glory  of  human  salva- 
tion. But  if,  after  ages  of  trial,  in  all  forms,  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, by  all  sorts  of  human  inventions,  in  all  stages  of 
the  progress  of  society — it  is  seen  that  every  thing  is  a  failure 
but  the  original,  incorrupt  and  simple  scheme  of  redemption  ; 
that  this  alone  can  reclaim  men  from  the  ways  of  sin  ;  that 
this  alone  can  assure  the  parent  of  his  own  salvation,  or  that 
of  his  child  ;  that  this  alone  can  make  a  healthful  state  of 
society,  in  which  peace,  and  temperance,  purity,  intelligence 
and  true  courtesy,  physical  comfort,  and  liberty  of  conscience, 
shall  most  perfectly  reign  ;  that  this  alone  can  bind  up  the 
broken  heart,  assuage  the  pains  of  disease,  and  light  up  the 
bed  of  death  with  an  unfading  glory  ;  then,  indeed,  will  the 
wisdom  of  Jehovah  be  vindicated,  and  that  truth  which  he 
hath  declared  to  be  "  the  power  of  God  to  salvation,"  will  be 
exalted  before  angels.  Then  will  He  whose  life  has  flowed 
through  the  Church  from  its  institution  in  Eden  down  to  the 
conflagration,  gather  around  himself  a  glory  most  astonishing 
and  unique,  while  all  the  heavens  shall  shout,  "  Worthy  art 
thou  to  reign,  for  thou  hast  prevailed  to  unloose  the  seals  of 
this  great  mystery,  and  unfold  in  thy  blood  the  scheme  of  life 
eternal."  What  a  scene  will  then  be  spread  out  before  the 
universe,  in  which  the  permission  of  all  these  errors  will  be 
understood,  and  the  redemption  of  Christ  shall  rise  over  one 
and  all  triumphant  !  How  shallow  and  mean  the  intellect 
of  the  wisest  errorist !  How  transcendent  and  glorious  the 
wisdom  of  Immanuel  !  Thus  the  history  of  the  Church  is 
interwoven  with  that  of  the  world,  in  all  its  forms  ;  and  thus, 


420     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

when  Grod  proceeds  to  unravel  the  long  series  of  its  events, 
and  i^lace  them  in  order  before  us,  shall  we  learn  to  admire 
and  adore.  Oh  !  amazing  wisdom,  that  penetrates  all  things, 
compasses  the  operation  of  all  causes,  and  institutes  a  plan 
of  redemption  on  which  innumerable  failures  of  men  will  shed 
the  brilliancy  of  final  and  complete  success  ! 

Sucli,  in  brief,  is  the  true  character  of  the  history  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  religion  of  Christ.  It  combines  in  itself 
all  that'  is  most  sublime  in  both  the  providence,  and  word, 
and  works  of  God.  It  is  a  larger  mirror,  reflecting  with  more 
perfection  and  power,  over  a  wider  circle  of  mind,  the  char- 
acter of  God  in  Christ,  as  the  Kedeemer  of  man,  than  it  is  at 
all  probable  will  be  found  anywhere  else  in  the  universe. 

I  have  spoken  of  history  in  general.  But  history  is  made 
up  of  elements  ;  and  the  richest  elements,  the  most  precious 
materials  of  which  it  is  composed,  are  contained  in  the  biog- 
raphies of  individuals.  Biography  constitutes  the  fountains 
and  the  minor  streams,  which  in  their  confluence  form  the 
history  of  the  world.  There  are  some  individual  lives  that 
illustrate  the  domestic  life,  the  social  state,  and  customs  of 
the  mass  of  the  people.  There  are  others  that  reveal  to  us 
the  religious  character  and  sacred  science  of  a  nation.  There 
are  others  still,  that  connect  themselves  with  art  and  law, 
with  medicine,  commerce  and  mechanics.  There  are  others 
that  are  associated  with  the  doings  of  the  State  ;  with  the 
formation  and  transformation  or  continuance  of  government  ; 
with  the  progress  or  decay  of  national  aggrandizement  and 
national  power.  Now,  if  we  are  careful  thus  to  preserve  the 
individual  history  of  a  few  men  in  each  department  of  life  ; 
if  we  are  vigilant  in  rescuing  from  oblivion  the  biographies 
which  best  illustrate  the  state  and  progress  or  decline  of  so- 
ciety, then  we  shall  have  gathered  up  the  materials  out  of 
which  to  form  at  length  a  true  and  most  useful  history  of  the 
providence  of  God  in  his  dealings  with  men.  It  is  not,  in- 
deed, every  man's  history  that  deserves  thus  to  be  recorded. 
Some  men  just  appear  upon  the  stage  of  action,  and  are  seen 
no  more.     And  while  every  human  life,  if  faithfully  written, 


HISTORY,    THE    UNFOLDING    OF     PROVIDENCE.      421 

would  have  something  vahiable  as  an  encouragement  or  a 
warning,  yet  it  is  only  from  here  and  there  a  few,  that  we  can 
gather  the  best  materials  for  the  final  history  of  man. 

It  has  been  the  peculiar  fortune  of  the  eminent  man  who 
has  just  departed  from  us,  to  have  lived  through  so  long  a 
series  of  years — to  have  been  associated  with  such  men  and 
such  scenes  from  early  childhood — to  have  borne  such  a  part 
in  measures  of  far-reaching  influence  upon  society — to  have 
been  connected  with  the  State  and  with  the  Church,  in  such 
a  variety  of  ways,  and  through  so  protracted  a  life — that  a 
faithful  biography  of  his  one  life  would  present  some  of  the 
most  deeply  interesting  and  marked  features  and  characteris- 
tics of  our  age,  of  our  land,  and  of  the  early  history  and 
progress  of  our  western  world.  It  would  embrace  the  stirring 
scenes  and  illustrious  actors  of  our  revolutionary  struggle  ; 
the  conflicts  through  which  our  present  Constitution  gradually 
assumed  shape  and  authoiity  ;  the  struggles  of  ambition  and 
local  interests  for  disunion  ;  the  early  educational  institutions 
of  the  nation  ;  the  pioneer  life  of  this  great  North-west  ; 
the  steps  by  which  States  were  formed,  and  law  and  civiliza- 
tion spread  themselves  over  lands  once  trodden  only  by  the 
Indian  and  his  prey  ;  the  feeble  infancy  of  our  churches  and 
schools,  and  the  influences  against  which  the  truth  of  God 
has  prevailed,  and  the  religion  of  Jesus  has  rooted  itself  in 
the  hearts  of  millions  ;  the  change  from  the  roughness  and 
the  privations  of  the  woods  to  the  refinements  and  opulence 
of  beautiful  towns  and  populous  cities,  where  men  from  every 
clime  assemble  on  these  sacred  days  to  worship  the  living 
God,  in  temples  such  as  would  dishonor  no  nation,  however 
high  its  civiHzation.  These  fourscore  years  and  more  have 
been  pregnant  with  the  mightiest  changes  in  the  history  of  the 
whole  human  race.  Revolutions,  arts  and  sciences,  religious 
progress,  the  earth  opening  all  her  ports  to  the  missionary  of 
the  cross,  stamp  a  character  upon  these  years  among  the  most 
remarkable  in  the  annals  of  time  ;  while  at  our  firesides,  in 
our  own  land,  they  measure  the  life  of  our  nation,  the  con- 
stitutional history  of  our  Union,  the  progress  and  expansion 


422      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

of  our  population  and  territoiy,  and  the  rise  of  great  religious 
societies,  as  the  instruments  of  the  Church  in  the  spread  of 
Christianity. 

In  the  brief  limits  allotted  to  me,  I  can  hut  touch  uj^on  a 
few  points  in  the  life  of  this  aged  patriarch. 

Jacob  Burnet  was  born  in  Newark,  New  Jersey,  on  the 
22d  of  February,  1770.  His  father.  Dr.  William  Burnet,  of 
Scotch  descent,  was  a  member  of  the  second  class  that  grad- 
uated at  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  in  1749  ;  was  elected  a 
member  of  Congress  under  the  Confederation  in  the  fall  of 
1776  ;  the  next  winter  was  appointed  physician  and  surgeon 
general  for  the  Eastern  District  of  the  United  States — an 
appointment  he  held  to  the  close  of  the  M^ar. 

Judge  Burnet  received  his  collegiate  education  at  Nassau 
Hall,  Princeton,  N,  J.,  where  he  graduated  with  honor  in 
September,  1791.  After  a  year  spent  there  as  a  resident 
graduate,  he  entered  the  office  of  Judge  Boudinot,  of  Newark, 
as  a  student  of  law,  and  under  that  distinguished  lawyer,  laid 
the  foundation  for  his  future  attainments  in  his  profes.sion. 
During  the  year  1795,  his  health  having  failed,  he  traveled 
extensively,  visited  the  West  for  the  first  time,  and  made 
choice  of  Cincinnati  as  his  field  of  future  labor.  In  May, 
1796,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
New  Jersey,  and  immediately  removed  to  this  then  frontier 
village.  He  entered  at  once  upon  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion, was  admitted  to  the  bar  on  his  arrival,  and  soon  obtained 
that  foremost  position  as  an  advocate  which  he  maintained 
until  his  retirement  from  the  active  duties  of  his  profession. 
In  1799  he  was  nominated  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
and  with  their  advice  and  consent  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent, John  Adams,  one  of  the  legislative  council  of  the  second 
grade  of  Territorial  government.  He  continued  a  very  active 
member  of  this  body  until  the  establishment  of  a  State  gov- 
ernment in  the  winter  of  1802-3.  During  the  war  in  1812, 
and  subsequently,  until  he  declined  a  reelection,  he  was  elected 
to  the  State  Legislature.  Retiring  from  the  practice  of  the 
law  in  1816-17,  he  was,  in  1821,  appointed  to  the  Bench  of 


HISTOKY,    THE     UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE.     423 

the  Supreme  Court,  and  subsequently  elected  to  the  same 
office  by  the  Legislature.  In  1828,  he  was  transferred  from 
the  Bench  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  At  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term  of  office,  he  refused  to  be  a  candidate  for 
reelection,  and  ever  since  rigidly  adhered  to  his  purpose  of 
remaining  in  private  life.  In  1847,  he  published  his  "  Notes 
on  the  North-western  Territory,"  as  his  contribution  to  the 
history  of  the  West.  He  departed  this  life.  May  10th,  in  the 
84th  year  of  his  age. 

This  lifQ,  thus  marked  out,  naturally  falls  into  four  divis- 
ions. The  first  embraces  his  youth  and  education  ;  the  second, 
his  professional  career  ;  the  third,  his  more  public  service  on 
the  Bench  and  in  the  Senate  ;  and  the  fourth,  the  period  of  re- 
tirement in  which  he  spends  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life. 

The  parentage,  the  early  domestic  life,  and  the  future 
educational  influences  under  which  the  youth  ripens  into  the 
man,  each  contribute  their  part  in  the  formation  of  character. 
Parentage  imparts  temperament  and  capacity  ;  the  early  do- 
mestic life  impresses  upon  childhood,  in  its  most  susceptible 
state,  a  thousand  unseen  and  silent  plastic  influences,  w^hich 
subtilly  insinuate  themselves  into  the  very  bones  and  ir  arrow 
of  the  young  life,  and  abide  with  it  for  ever  ;  the  subsequent 
associations  with  men,  and  the  discipline  of  a  preparation  for 
public  life,  confirm  and  enlarge,  or  impair  and  contract  the 
power  of  previous  training.  Now  in  all  these  respects  Judge 
Burnet  was  highly  favored.  He  sprang  from  a  God-fearing 
ancestry — from  those  who  had  left  their  native  Scotland  to 
enjoy  in  this  land  those  rights  and  that  freedom  wliich  they 
could  not  obtain  at  home.  Newark,  Elizabethtown,  and  a 
number  of  adjacent  towns  in  that  section  of  New  Jersey,  were 
originally  settled  by  men  of  the  same  stamp  as  those  who 
emigrated  to  New  England.  They  brought  with  them  the 
word  of  God  and  the  ministry.  Their  first  concern  was  to 
rear  a  church  and  a  school-house.  The  earliest  house  of  wor- 
ship built  at  Newark  was  of  such  a  size  that  all  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  place  could  have  sat  at  the  same  time  upon  its 
foundation  wall.     They  built  then'  church  and  their  academy 


424      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

for  the  future.  There  Nassau  Hall  had  its  origin,  and  it  was 
while  still  at  Newark  that  the  father  of  Judge  Burnet  com- 
pleted his  studies  in  it,  under  the  presidency  of  the  Reverend 
Aaron  Burr.  His  father,  a  physician  of  eminence,  the  asso- 
ciate of  Washington,  and  an  actor  in  the  scenes  of  the  Eevo- 
lution,  was  a  man  of  great  decision  and  liigh  moral  character. 
His  own  mother  died  while  he  was  yet  a  youth,  yet  not  before 
she  had  left  the  impress  of  her  pious  teachings  and  example 
upon  his  heart.  These  domestic  influences  were  here  most 
hajjpy.  Rarely  is  it  that  you  see  an  entire  family  of  sons  and 
daughters,  embodying  more  moral  worth  than  that  of  which 
our  departed  friend  was  a  member.  The  benediction  of  Je- 
hovah rested  upon  them  in  life  ;  it  descended  upon  them  at 
the  domestic  fireside  ;  the  dead  have  left  behind  them  a  frag- 
rant memory.  Of  the  living,  but  one  remains,  and  that  one 
loved  and  honored  by  all  who  are  able  to  appreciate  Christian 
excellence. 

The  First  church  in  Newark,  during  this  period  of  Judge 
Burnet's  life,  was  filled  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  WcWhorter.  He 
^vas  a  man  not  distinguished  for  gi-eat  brilliancy — not  at  all 
the  equal  of  his  successor.  Dr.  Griffin,  in  richness  and  power 
of  thought  and  eloquence — yet  of  such  fine  scholarship,  of 
such  consistent  Christian  character,  of  such  rare  wisdom,  effi- 
ciency and  ministerial  dignity,  as  to  hold  his  position  for  half 
a  century,  with  the  increasing  regard  and  confidence  of  his 
people  to  the  close.  To  him  Judge  Burnet  looked  back  with 
the  greatest  respect  and  reverence.  He  never  mentioned  his 
name  without  some  epithet  of  regard.  He  could  repeat  some 
of  his  expressions  and  passages  of  his  sermons  when  himself 
fourscore  years  old  ;  and  it  was  easy  enough  to  see  that  im- 
pressions had  been  made  on  his  mind  and  heart  by  the  minis- 
try of  this  venerable  minister  of  Christ,  that  must  have  con- 
tributed vitally  to  the  formation  of  his  character.  It  is  not 
every  man  that  can  tell,  or  is  willing  to  acknowledge,  how 
much  he  owes  to  the  power  of  the  Christian  ministry  over  his 
early  years.  This  appointed  influence  of  Heaven,  associated 
with  that  of  the  parent,  and  confirmed  by  it,  often  sinks  deep 


HISTORY,    THE     UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE.     425 

into  the  soul,  and  greatly  assists  in  preparing  the  soil  for  the 
rich  fruits  of  maturer  life  ;  and  that  parent  is  both  wicked 
and  foolish  who  fails  to  second  the  ftiithful  efforts  of  a  minis- 
ter of  Christ  for  the  religious  w^ell-being  of  his  children. 
With  Judge  Burnet  all  these  influences  were  in  harmony, 
and  thus  we  find  him,  when  fourscore  years  had  passed  over 
him,  looking  back  to  the  faithful  servant  of  God,  to  whom 
he  listened  in  youth,  as  the  instrument  of  the  deepest  and 
most  salutary  impressions  evej'  made  on  his  heart. 

He  entered  Nassau  Hall  shortly  after  the  termination  of 
our  great  revolutionary  struggle.  The  storm  of  war  that 
had  burst  with  such  force  upon  Princeton  had  passed  away. 
The  college  buildings,  which  had  been  converted  into  bar- 
racks for  British  soldiers,  were  again  the  peaceful  retreat  of 
science.  He  passed  through  his  college  course  with  distinc- 
tion and  honor,  and  subsequently  spent  a  year  there  as  a  res- 
ident graduate.  He  there  formed  that  taste  for  the  classics 
which  remained  strong  in  him  to  the  day  of  his  death.  His 
scholarship  was  accurate,  and  his  acquaintance  with  some  of 
the  leading  authors  familiar  and  extensive.  He  was  accus- 
tomed through  life  to  read  the  New  Testament  in  the  orig- 
inal, and  his  occasional  quotations  from  Latin  authors,  when 
near  the  close  of  life,  have  often  surprised  and  delighted 
me. 

Among  the  men  at  Princeton,  during  his  college  career, 
there  was  one  who  exercised  great  influence  in  forming  his 
character.  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  then  the  presiding  officer. 
His  commanding  sense,  clear  logic.  Christian  simplicity,  de- 
cision and  purity,  as  it  gave  him  a  wide  influence  in  the  con- 
vention that  framed  our  national  Constitution,  so  it  secured 
for  him  the  respect  and  the  deference  of  the  students  of  Nas- 
sau Hall.  He  was  a  man  of  strong,  sterling  character.  Stiff 
and  erect  as  the  granite  mountains,  but  like  those  mountains 
on  which  the  earliest  sunlight  played,  around  which  the 
clouds  gathered  and  condensed  the  fertilizing  shoAvers,  he 
stood  firm  amidst  the  most  trying  scenes,  shedding  light  and 
refreshing  influence  upon  the  quickened  minds  that  resorted 


426      HISTOKICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

to  him  for  instruction.  A  powerful  mind,  when  it  meets  with 
another  powerful  mind,  j^oung,  susceptible,  and  of  somewhat 
congenial  temperament,  will  often  give  to  the  younger  a  form 
and  impression  that  will  characterize  all  its  future.  Wither- 
spoon,  with  his  strong,  clear  intellect,  and  Christian  spirit, 
found  in  young  Burnet  elements  of  power  worthy  his  mold- 
ing hand  ;  and  he  gave  to  them  an  imjDress  that  no  after 
struggles  and  toils  in  the  broad  battle-field  of  frontier  life 
availed  to  efface.  To  the  dajj  of  his  death,  Judge  Burnet 
cherished  an  exalted  opinion  of  his  venerable  teacher,  spoke 
of  him  with  the  deepest  enthusiasm,  and  acknowledged  the 
influence  that  had  blessed  his  life  and  vitally  aftected  his 
character. 

In  rightly  estimating  the  influences  that  formed  the  char- 
acter of  the  deceased  for  usefulness  in  the  pioneer  life  to  which 
he  was  destined,  and  the  early  molding  of  State  institutions 
in  which  he  was  to  bear  so  large  and  important  a  part,  you 
will  not  fail  to  notice  the  times  of  his  youth,  and  the  men 
with  whom  he  was  early  associated.  The  period  that  elapsed 
between  his  birth  and  his  entrance  upon  jjrofessional  life,  em- 
braced the  whole  of  our  revolutionaiy  struggle,  the  formation 
of  our  national  Constitution,  and  the  discussions  that  preceded 
it ;  the  launching  of  the  nation  upon  the  ocean  of  existence, 
as  an  organized  and  united  government,  and  the  administra- 
tion of  Washington,  consequent  upon  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution.  Central  New  Jersey  was  the  fiercest  battle- 
ground of  the  Kevolution.  There  the  grandsires  of  some  of 
us  fell  in  the  struggle  for  religious  and  civil  freedom,  and 
there  their  dust  will  abide  till  the  trump  of  judgment.  His 
father.  Dr.  Burnet,  took  an  early  and  a  decided  jjart  in  thi» 
memorable  conflict,  and  with  many  others  periled  all  on  the 
issue.  His  family  were  at  times  compelled  to  flee  from  their 
homes  to  a  place  of  security  ;  and  thus  the  scenes  of  this 
great  contest — the  alternations  of  hope  and  desj)ondency  at- 
tending its  fluctuations,  the  distress  and  terror,  as  well  as  the 
joy — all  wrought  themselves  into  the  ex]3erience  of  the  manly 
boy.     At  the  close  of  the  conflict,  he  was  thirteen  years  old  ; 


1 


HISTOKY,     THE     UNFOLDING    OF     PROVIDENCE,     427 

and  the  impression  of  many  of  its  scenes  remained  vivid  and 
strong  to  the  day  of  his  departm-e. 

No  sooner,  however,  had  independence  been  achieved,  than 
those  great  constitutional  discussions  commenced,  which  for 
vigor,  comprehensiveness,  simplicity,  profundity,  and  adapt- 
edness  to  the  original  state  of  our  country,  are  without  a 
parallel  in  the  world's  history.  His  father  was  the  intimate 
friend  of  many  of  the  leading  minds  of  the  Revolution.  His 
house  was  often  visited  by  those  whose  skill  and  intelligence 
were  ahke  successful  in  the  field  and  in  the  senate-house. 
Among  these,  next  to  Washington,  stood  forth  that  man  of 
giant  intellect  and  wonderful  versatility  of  genius,  Alexander 
Hamilton.  Much  as  we  admire  the  men  of  world-wide  fame 
who  so  recently  have  passed  away  from  our  Senate,  yet  it  can 
not  well  be  questioned  that  in  all  the  attributes  of  a  statesman; 
in  profound  and  comprehensive  views  ;  in  that  intuition  which 
at  a  glance  saw  through  the  most  perplexed  and  difficult  sub- 
jects ;  in  that  practical  tact,  which  out  of  confusion  educed 
order,  and  impressed  a  united  impulse  upon  a  complicated 
organization,  and  minds  of  opposing  and  diverse  views,  we 
have  never  had  a  statesman  who  could  rightly  challenge  su- 
periority to  him.  It  was  in  occasional  association  with  such 
men,  amidst  the  stin-ing  discussions  of  that  day,  that  the 
early  manhood  of  Judge  Burnet  was  formed.  It  was  his  rare 
fortune  to  listen  to  Washington,  in  the  delivery  of  his  inaug- 
ural, when  he  took  his  seat  as  the  first  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  It  was  his  still  rarer  fortune  to  listen  again  to 
the  tones  of  that  voice,  when  calmly,  solemnly,  and  impress- 
ively, the  father  of  his  country  took  leave  of  j^ublic  life,  and 
gave  to  us  and  to  the  future  that  farewell  address,  every  word 
of  which  should  be,  not  written  in  letters  of  gold  on  that 
lofty  obelisk  a  nation  rears  to  his  memory,  but  engraved  on 
the  memory  of  every  child  that  shall  be  born  on  this  wide  do- 
main, and  wrought  as  living  lessons  of  wisdom  into  the  man- 
hood of  all  our  country. 

These  various  associations,  this  peculiar  discipline,  these 
early  instructions,  were  the  training  of  the  all-wise  Jehovah 


428     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS, 

for  the  wide  and  important  sphere  which  Judge  Burnet  was 
appointed  to  fill.  They  give  hreadth,  consistency,  and  strength 
to  his  whole  character.  They  prepared  him  for  just  that  po- 
sition which  he  subsequently  occupied,  and  in  which  he  be- 
came the  benefactor  of  this  entire  North-west.  In  the  founding 
of  a  State,  it  is  essential  that  there  should  he  men  of  brawny 
muscle,  to  fell  the  forests  and  overcome  the  physical  obstacles 
that  ojipose  the  entrance  of  civilization  ;  it  is  essential  there 
should  be  men  of  speculation  and  enterprise,  to  plan,  pur- 
chase, and  improve.  It  is  always  necessary  that  the  minister 
of  Jesus  should  be  there  to  assist  in  laying  the  foundations 
for  the  upbuilding  of  religious  institutions.  But  in  addition 
to  these,  and  others,  it  is  equally  essential  there  should  be 
some  men  of  accurate  scholarship,  of  profound  and  compre- 
hensive legal  knowledge,  of  j3ractical  tact  and  enterprise  in 
the  business  of  legislation,  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  law 
in  wise  constitutions,  and  adapt  the  new  political  institutions 
to  the  original  circumstances  of  a  yet  unformed  community. 
The  training  to  which  Judge  Burnet  was  early  subject,  was 
of  just  the  kind  adapted  to  mold  him  for  such  a  high  posi- 
tion. He  who  believes  in  a  divine  providence,  will  see  in  this 
the  hand  of  God,  and  the  heart  of  God's  kindness. 
V  It  is  sm-ely  not  among  the  least  of  the  divine  benedictions 
to  a  nation,  when  the  great  Sovereign  not  only  confers  ex- 
alted talents  but  prepares  the  possessors  to  employ  them 
wisely  in  advancing  national  interests.  When  He  bestows 
rich  and  special  endowments  on  individuals;  when  He  directs 
the  varied  discipline  by  which  these  endowments  are  most 
fully  unfolded  ;  when,  having  prepared  the  men  for  their 
work.  He  at  length  exalts  Washington  to  the  chieftainship 
in  the  crisis  of  the  Be  volution,  Jackson  to  the  Presidency, 
and  Webster  and  Clay  to  the  Senate,  in  the  hour  of  national 
peril  from  sectional  jealousies ;  when  He  thus  endows,  and 
trains,  and  finally  guides  to  their  fields  of  labor,  just  such 
men  as  the  time  and  the  occasion  demand,  surely  He  doth 
confer  upon  the  people  a  benediction  among  the  richest  of 
time.     It  is  through  such  minds  the  national  life  is  modified. 


HISTORY,     THE     UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE.    429 

preserved,  quickened.  They  settle  difficulties,  harmonize 
conflicting  interests,  resist  injustice,  give  vigor  and  tone  to 
national  feeling,  enact,  expound,  and  enforce  the  law  of  lib- 
erty. Their  words  are  engines  of  power  ;  then'  lives  a  minis- 
try of  temporal  salvation  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  State.  A 
single  clear,  decided,  strong,  and  pure  soul,  prepared  for  its 
work,  and  present  when  the  foundations  of  the  State  are  laid, 
or  when  the  crises  of  its  successive  developments  arrive,  is 
worth  infinitely  more  to  society  than  mines  of  gold  or  fisher- 
ies of  pearls,  or  a  million  of  men  too  ignorant  to  understand 
the  necessities  of  the  State,  or  too  corrupt  or  vacillating  to 
lead  in  the  path  of  rectitude  and  peace.  Great  talents  are 
neither  accidental  nor  common.  A  Moses,  a  Solomon,  and  a 
Paul ;  a  Demosthenes  and  an  Alexander  ;  a  Cicero  and  a 
Ca3sar  ;  a  Luther  and  a  Calvin  ;  a  Charles  V.  and  a  Napo- 
leon ;  a  Cromwell  and  a  Washington,  are  rare  creations. 
When  such  powers  exist,  and  when  the  possessor  has  been 
disciplined  and  taught  to  exercise  them  for  the  good  of  man, 
the  establishment  of  truth,  the  overthrow  of  evil,  the  protec- 
tion of  the  noblest  interests  of  society,  then  do  we  recognize  in 
them  the  goodness  of  Jehovah  to  those  among  whom  they 
minister. 

This  early  training,  these  domestic,  religious,  literary,  and 
political  associations  of  Judge  Burnet,  not  only  left  an  in- 
eraseable  impress  upon  his  nature,  but  revealed  that  nature 
in  bold  and  clear  outlines  which  no  after  scenes  could  materi- 
ally change.  There  are  some  souls,  which,  like  the  trap  rock, 
when  they  once  assume  a  form  and  begin  to  harden,  are  never 
after  susceptible  of  great  revolutions  from  any  ordinary  agency. 
The  fire  which  first  melted,  must  melt  it  again  before  a  new 
impress  can  be  stamped  upon  it.  His  nature  was  thus  thrown 
up  into  a  form  strong  and  bold,  by  this  early  discipline  ;  a 
form  which  remained  substantially  the  same  from  early  man- 
hood to  the  last  hour  of  his  protracted  life. 

Two  events  marked  the  close  of  this  period,  and  exerted 
both  an  abiding  and  a  salutary  impression  u])on  his  after 
course.     His  father  died  about  the  time  of  his  <];i'<iduation  : 


430         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

and  before  his  law  studies  were  completed  his  lungs  became 
seriously  aiFected,  and  his  health  was  prostrated.  It  was  in 
connection  with  these  events,  and  the  meditations  to  which 
they  led,  that  his  convictions  of  the  truth  of  Christianity, 
and  the  reality  of  religion  were  finally  settled  never  to  be 
shaken.  He  then  saw  and  felt  what  were  the  only  great  prin- 
ciples of  action  that  could  preserve  him  amidst  the  tempta- 
tions of  life.  He  declared  to  me  a  few  months  before  his 
decease,  that  at  that  time  he  adopted  practical  convictions 
and  principles,  according  to  which  he  had  ever  since  endeav- 
ored to  form  his  life.  What  was  the  depth,  the  extent  and 
the  vitality  of  those  principles,  I  need  not  now  attempt  to 
discuss.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  know,  that  before  he  entered 
upon  public  life  in  this  new  world,  he  had  already  formed  a 
standard  of  right  and  duty,  and  that  he  came  hither  not  only 
mature  in  understanding,  but  in  conviction  and  purpose,  at 
least,  anchored  to  the  great  truths  of  divine  revelation. 

We  have  seen  him  amidst  the  influences  of  childhood, 
youth  and  early  manhood.  Let  us  pass  on  now  at  a  single 
stride  from  the  refinement  and  cultivation  of  his  early  home, 
to  the  rudeness  of  life  in  the  forest  and  the  wilderness.  Fifty- 
seven  years  ago  this  month,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  his 
native  State.  Fifty-seven  years  ago  this  summer  he  began 
his  professional  life  in  this  place.  A  few  score  huts  and  rude 
frame  buildings,  with  the  log  Fort  Washington,  composed  the 
village.  The  inhabitants,  including  the  garrison,  numbered 
not  more  than  six  hundred.  The  entire  white  population  of 
the  whole  North-west  did  not  amount  to  fifteen  thousand. 
But  Wayne  had  compelled  the  Indian  to  bury  the  tomahawk. 
The  peace  of  1795  had  given  the  land  rest  from  its  savage 
aboriginals.  The  beginnings  of  mighty  States  were  here. 
And  here  was  the  field,  and  this  was  the  home  for  such  a 
man  to  perform  the  work  of  assisting  to  lay  the  foundations 
of  civil  society  for  these  on-coming  millions. 

We  are  at  once  struck  by  two  things  which  marked  his 
early  career.  Although  feeble  in  health,  yet  he  at  once  ad- 
dressed himself  to  the  duties  of  his  profession.     His  com- 


HISTORY,     THE     UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE.     431 

mandiug  talents,  his  ripe  scholarship,  his  brilliancy  and 
success  as  an  advocate,  from  the  first  secured  to  him  an 
extensive  practice.  He  traveled  to  Marietta,  Detroit  and 
Vincennes,  in  order  to  attend  the  courts  held  in  those  places. 
By  bridle  paths,  by  blazed  trees,  fording  streams,  through 
the  deep,  wet  soil,  often  camping  on  the  ground,  this  young 
lawyer,  in  delicate  health,  but  with  indomitable  enterprise 
and  perseverance,  prosecuted  his  work."*  He  ate  no  bread 
of  idleness  ;  he  shunned  no  just  responsibility.  He  took 
long  journeys  on  professional  business,  when  scarcely  able  to 
sit  on  his  horse.  He  appeared  in  court,  and  prosecuted  im- 
portant suits,  when  in  no  condition  to  leave  his  bed.  He 
not  only  grappled  with  the  difficulties  attending  the  perform- 
ance of  his  duties  as  a  lawyer,  over  this  immense  and  unset- 
tled North-west,  but  he  cheerfully  engaged  in  the  business  of 
legislation,  and  superadded  the  labors  of  council  to  the  inces- 
sant toils  of  an  advocate.     Before  such  decision,  industry  and 

*  In  one  of  these  trips  of  the  bar  from  Cincinnati  to  Marietta,  tlie  Judge  re- 
lates, that  after  crossing  the  Hocking  river,  near  where  the  town  of  Athens  now 
stands,  they  were  overtaken  by  night,  and  unable  to  keep  the  path.  The  major- 
ity of  the  party  determined  to  proceed,  and  to  do  this,  one  at  a  time  dismounted, 
and  led  the  way  on  foot,  relying  on  the  sense  of  feeling  to  keep  the  path.  Some 
time  after  midnight  Mr.  Burnet  was  on  foot  leading  his  horse  in  front,  and  feel- 
ing for  the  path,  when  he  stepped  down  a  small  precipice  about  three  feet:  his 
horse  being  frightened,  suddenly  drew  back  and  prevented  him  from  falling.  On 
regaining  his  former  position,  it  was  ascertained  that  a  little  in  the  rear,  the 
path  turned  to  the  left  at  nearly  a  right  angle,  and  went  down  a  sidelong  hill 
some  tifty  feet  or  more,  to  a  creek,  which  proved  to  be  Wolf  Creek.  On  the  re- 
turn of  the  party,  they  ascertained  that  within  three  feet  of  the  small  precipice 
down  which  Mr.  Burnet  had  stepped  in  the  dark,  there  was  anoiJier,  almost  per- 
pendicular, down  to  the  bed  of  the  creek,  down  which  a  step  or  two  more  would 
have  precipitated  him. 

At  another  time,  on  a  return  from  Detroit,  night  overtook  them  in  the  middle 
of  a  swamp,  swarming  with  gnats  and  mosquitoes.  There  being  no  moon,  and 
the  forest  very  dense,  it  was  found  impossible  to  keep  the  path,  much  less  to  see. 
amid  the  quagmires  on  every  side.  They  had  no  alternative,  and  were  compelled 
to  halt  till  morning.  To  lie  down  was  impossible,  from  the  nature  of  the  ground; 
and  to  sleep  was  quite  as  difficult,  as  they  were  surrounded  with  gnats  and 
mosquitoes.  After  remaining  in  that  uncomfortable  condition  live  or  six  hours, 
expecting  every  moment  their  horses  to  break  away,  daylight  made  its  appear- 
ance for  their  relief. — BarneCs  Notes  on  the  Xorih-icest,  pp.  67  and  71. 


432      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

perseverance,  difficulties  vanished.  The  young  man  who  came 
here  with  the  assurance  of  a  brief  life,  gradually  hardened  his 
constitution,  and  triumphed  over  disease,  until  for  many  years 
he  has  walked  these  streets,  to  all  outward  appearance,  one 
of  the  most  hale  and  vigorous.  He  who  had  scarce  physical 
strength  to  warrant  the  hope  of  life,  by  an  indomitable  will, 
a  patient  industry,  a  temperate  life,  and  a  judicious  exposure, 
not  only  rose  to  the  front  rank  in  his  profession,  not  only  long 
enjoyed  the  most  extensive  practice  in  the  State,  but  actually 
accomplished  more  for  himself,  and  more  for  society,  and  more 
for  this  great  territoiy,  and  more  for  the  federal  Union,  than 
almost  any  one  of  his  early  cotemporaiies  and  associates.  This 
energy  of  character  marked  him  to  the  end.  He  would  not 
consent  to  use  his  carriage,  in  his  daily  \dsits  to  the  bank,  or 
in  his  attendance  upon  the  sanctuary,  until  within  the  last 
few  months,  when  disease  had  begun  to  di-aw  his  life  to  a 
rapid  close.  He  sought  no  assistance  from  others  when  he 
could  assist  himself.  Action  was  his  life  :  an  energetic  will, 
an  enterprising  spirit,  a  conscientious  desire  to  do  his  duty, 
resisted  the  early  influence  of  disease,  and  lengthened  out  his 
days  far  beyond  the  usual  term  of  human  allotment. 

But  there  is  still  another  fact  of  far  greater  importance, 
which  characterizes  his  early  life  at  the  West.  At  the  period 
of  his  settlement  here,  the  principles  of  French  infidelity,  and 
with  them  French  morality,  had  reached  their  height  of  influ- 
ence on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  It  is  difficult  for  us,  even 
amidst  the  imported  skepticism  of  this  day,  fully  to  appre- 
ciate the  extent  and  the  power  of  the  j^rinciples  of  Eousseau 
and  Voltaire — of  Diderot,  and  Hume,  and  Gibbon,  over  the 
cultivated  class  of  society  in  this  country.  The  French  war, 
antedating  the  Revolution,  began  the  degeneracy.  The  sol- 
diers engaged  in  early  conflict,  on  their  return  to  their  homes, 
in  many  cases  brought  with  them  the  profanity  and  the  irre- 
ligion  of  those  whom  they  had  fought.  The  subsequent 
advent  of  the  French  anny  under  the  gallant  Lafayette,  in 
spite  of  the  generous  object  at  which  they  aimed,  was  yet  the 
introduction  of  a  speculative  unbelief  and  a  deteriorated  state 


HISTORY^     THE    UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE.    433 

of  morals,  among  a  multitude  of  the  now  educated  and  intel- 
ligent, which  distances  any  thing  we  have  since  experienced. 
The  vulgar  infidelity  of  Paine  has  at  times  since  gone  down 
among  the  ignorant ;  hut  there  the  elevated,  the  intellectual, 
the  leaders  in  society  were  often  skeptics.  Yale  College  was 
a  nest  of  young  atheist  philosoi)hers.  The  late  Dr.  Alexan- 
der, of  Princeton,  once  remarked  to  me  that  in  his  youth,  in 
Virginia,  it  was  rare  to  find  a  jiuhlic  man  who  was  not  tainted 
with  this  leprous  infection.  A  near  relation,  now  in  heaven, 
informed  me  that  when  she  made  a  profession  of  religion  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  last  century,  she  knew  of  but  one  young 
man,  in  her  wide  circle  of  acquaintance,  embracing  many  who 
had  been  ofiicers  in  the  army,  and  in  civil  life,  who  was  ti'uly 
a  Christian.  War,  in  its  immediate  effects,  is  always  hostile 
to  morals  and  religion.  A  civil  war,  like  that  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, protracted  for  nearly  eight  years,  was  enough  of  itself 
to  produce,  for  a  time,  a  retrograde  movement  in  society,  and 
generate  a  vast  amount  of  idleness,  immorality  and  crime. 
But  when  to  the  natural  influence  of  such  a  fearful  conflict, 
you  add  the  influence  of  that  nation  which  took  part  with  us 
in  the  struggle,  and  by  the  assistance  of  her  arms  prepared 
the  way  for  the  entrance  of  her  popular  philosophy,  it  is  easy 
to  understand  the  reason  for  so  wide-spread  a  degeneracy. 

With  such  a  state  of  things  in  most  of  the  eastern  por- 
tions of  our  country,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  a  better 
condition  of  faith  and  morals  would  be  found  in  the  frontier 
towns  at  the  West.  In  point  of  fact,  wherever  the  army  was 
located,  it  was  worse.  Judge  Burnet  has  himself  recorded 
the  fact,  that,  with  the  exception  of  General  Harrison,  and 
three  or  four  others,  most  of  the  officers  of  the  army,  both 
under  Wilkinson  and  Wayne,  were  intemperate.  Idleness, 
intemperance  and  gambling,  prevailed  among  them.  In  the 
early  times  of  this  village,  when  the  army  composed  so  large 
a  proportion  of  the  inhabitants,  their  influence  over  society 
was  commanding ;  and  that  influence,  instead  of  elevating 
the  standard  of  morals,  and  sustaining  the  interests  of  reli- 
gion, was  decidedly  of  an  opposite  character.     The  contagion 

28 


434         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

of  SO  corrupt  an  example  sjiread  itself  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town.  Of  nine  lawyers  in  successful  practice  at  the 
bar  during  this  periud,  Judge  Burnet  states  that  all  but  one, 
and  that  his  own  brother,  who  died  of  consumption,  fell  vic- 
tims to  the  ruinous  habits  of  the  time.  These  facts,  appall- 
ing as  they  are,  have  been  confirmed  by  other  witnesses,  and 
never  denied.*  We  can  hardly  conceive  of  a  condition  of 
things  better  adapted  to  test  the  principles  of  a  young  man, 
than  this.  A  young  man,  a  lawyer  in  professional  life,  of 
line  talents,  and  a  liberal  education,  patronized  by  some, 
courted  by  others,  solicited  by  all,  afar  from  his  home  and 
early  associates,  the  restraints  of  society,  so  necessary  at  this 
period  of  life,  not  only  greatly  loosened,  but  the  main  force 
of  a  public  opinion,  most  powerful  on  the  young,  actually 
urging  him  to  walk  in  the  paths  of  vice,  he  yet  resists  the 
temptation,  and  pursues  his  elevated  and  even  way,  as  if  he 

*  The  late  lamented  Dr.  Drake,  in  -n-hose  decease  the  medical  profession  lost 
one  of  its  brightest  ornaments  and  ablest  authors,  and  the  Church  a  warm- 
hearted member,  thiis  speaks  of  the  condition  and  moral  habits  of  the  village  of 
Cincinnati  at  the  period  of  his  arrival,  and  for  a  season  after  the  year  1800. 
•'  Now,  the  state  of  society  in  our  olden  time  was  very  different  from  the  present. 
In  many  respects  the  contrast  between  the  two  is  scarcely  less  than  the  contrast 
of  the  primitive  and  the  present  scenery.  From  the  beginning,  the  miUtary  ele- 
ment was  predominant,  and  up  to  the  end  of  the  first  era,  its  influence  was  stQl 
perceptible,  not  in  the  generation  of  ferocious  passions  and  dueling  practices,  but 
in  fostering  indolence,  apathy  and  a  love  of  pleasure;  high  aims  and  great  enter- 
prises, with  intense  efforts  for  their  accomplishment,  did  not  belong  to  their  times, 
even  in  the  older  settled  portions  of  the  Union,  and  if  they  sprang  up,  as  indeed 
they  did,  in  the  minds  of  some  of  the  pioneers,  they  had  to  contend  against  many 
adverse  and  discouraging  circumstances.  The  army,  at  this  time  so  emulous  of 
civil  society,  in  propriety  and  purity  of  manners,  was  then  much  farther  behind 
a  far  worse  condition  of  general  society.  Drinking  to  intoxication,  public  balls, 
theatrical  amusements,  horse-racing,,  billiards,  and  various  games  of  chance,  "pre- 
vailed to  a  degree  exceedingly  unfavorable  to  habits  of  study  or  business.  Cards, 
riie  most  dangerous  of  all  family  amusement.s,  were  a  part  of  the  m.eans  of  wast- 
ing time,  in  the  majority  of  tlie  houses  of  the  village ;  and  the  whisky-bottle  was 
a  symbol  of  hospitality  in  the  whole.  Everybody  drank,  but  everybody  was 
not  a  drunkard;  nor  must  it  be  supposed  that  there  was  no  minority  of  industri- 
ous, sober-minded  and  pious  persons,  who  souglit  by  example,  as  well  as  pre- 
cept, to  rectify  the  morals  of  the  majority." — Drakes  Discourse  before  the  "  Oln- 
cinnati  Medical  Library  Association."  page  50. 


HISTORY,    THE     UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE.    435 

was  in  the  midst  of  a  community  the  most  moral  and  reli- 
gious. 

A  single  incident  which  he  related  to  me  will  illustrate  the 
temptation  and  the  deliverance.  At  one  time,  while  in  com- 
pany with  a  number  of  the  officers  of  the  army,  cards  heing 
introduced,  he  was  invited  to  take  a  hand.  He  declined  at 
first,  stating  that  he  did  not  play  ;  that,  in  fact,  he  did  not 
know  one  card  from  another.  They  vohmteered  to  teach  him. 
Yielding  to  their  solicitations,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  he 
sat  down  to  a  card  table.  He  soon  mastered  the  game,  and, 
before  he  was  aware  of  it,  became  deeply  interested  in  play. 
Money  was  staked,  lost  and  won  ;  the  hours  of  night  flew 
away  under  the  spell  of  this  new  and  marvelous  excitement ; 
when  the  morning  dawned,  and  the  card  party  broke  up,  he 
found  himself  the  winner  of  a  considerable  sum.  No  sooner, 
however,  had  he  risen  from  the  table  than  reflection  came,  and 
with  it  astonishment  at  the  terrible  power  of  an  excitement 
that  had  so  suddenly  mastered  his  deepest  convictions  and 
well-settled  principles.  Mortification,  a  sense  of  personal 
degradation,  immediate  repentance,  took  possession  of  him. 
He  refused  to  take  the  sum  he  had  won,  and  firmly  resolved 
never  again  to  put  himself  under  the  power  of  so  demoraliz- 
ing an  influence.  That  was  his  first  and  last  game  of  cards — 
his  first  and  last  experiment  in  gambling.  He  saw  the  fearful 
precipice  before  him  ;  he  looked  down  with  a  clear  eye  into  its 
black  depths  ;  he  measured  the  greatness  of  the  temptation 
and  the  hazard  of  ruin,  and  ever  after  avoided  an  approach  to 
the  brink.  Happy  would  it  be  for  all  the  young  men  of  this 
city,  if  thus  forewarned  they  should  be  forearmed  and  pan- 
oplied against  that  accursed  spirit  which,  in  spite  of  the  law, 
goes  about  these  streets  and  enters  parlors  as  well  as  gambling 
hells,  seeking  its  victims  among  all  classes  of  society.  Happy 
would  it  be  if  our  city  authorities,  no  longer  sleeping  over 
known  violations  of  law,  should  drive  from  us  the  vampires 
that  fatten  on  the  blood  of  the  unwary  and  inexperienced. 

It  was  amidst  these  and  similar  temptations  that  Judge 
Burnet  stood  firm,  through  the  abiding  power  of  the  princi- 


436  HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

pies  of  Christian  truth  and  the  gracious  assistance  of  Him 
through  whom  alone  the  strongest  and  the  weakest  are  en- 
abled to  stand.  During  all  this  period  he  proclaimed  his  faith 
in  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  sup- 
port of  the  gospel  and  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary.  No  sooner 
had  he  a  home  of  his  own  than  he  welcomed  the  ministers  of 
Christ  to  it.  From  that  time  to  tliis  no  house  in  this  city  has 
been  more  freely  and  constantly  open  to  those  who  preach  the 
gospel  of  Jesus.  He  was  among  the  first  to  welcome  the  late 
pastor  of  the  First  church,  Rev.  Dr.  Wilson,  to  the  city  and 
to  his  dwelling  ;  and  in  spite  of  not  a  few  differences  of  opin- 
ion on  practical  subjects  adapted  to  inspire  opposite  feelings, 
he  never  ceased  to  regard  him  and  speak  of  him  with  deep  re- 
spect as  a  truly  honest  Christian  minister.  The  church  now 
worshiping  in  this  edifice  was  organized  in  his  house ;  for  years 
the  meetings  for  social  prayer  were  attended  there  more  fre- 
quently than  elsewhere,  and  usually  he  was  himself  present. 
He  took  a  decided  part  in  the  establishment  of  the  first  Sab- 
bath school,  encouraging  the  superintendent  and  teachers  by 
both  his  person  and  eloquence.  At  that  time,  I  am  informed, 
he  was  about  the  only  man  of  his  age  and  standing  in  society 
that  thus  identified  himself  with  the  various  operations  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  When  no  minister  was  present,  he  not  un- 
frequently  read  a  sermon,  and  so  far  assisted  to  maintain  the 
worship  of  God.  Such  was  his  earnest  advocacy  of  religion, 
and  his  efforts  to  promote  it  during  this  first  and  most  trying- 
period  of  his  residence  in  the  West. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  he  won  that  position  at  the  bar 
and  that  fame  as  an  advocate  which  placed  him  in  the  front 
rank  of  his  profession.  The  story  of  his  forensic  efforts  form 
part  of  the  early  history  of  the  State,  and  is  perpetuated  in 
the  traditions  of  his  profession.  Few  men  within  the  period 
of  twenty  years,  which  was  about  the  extent  of  his  practice 
at  the  bar,  have  been  engaged  in  more  important  causes  or 
with  more  success.  There  were  three  things  which  combined 
to  give  him  this  liigh  position  as  an  advocate.  (1.)  Tire  char- 
acter of  his  mental  constitution  and  training  prepared  him  to 


HISTORY,     THE    UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE.     437 

lead  at  the  bar — his  intellect  originally  clear,  ready  and  active, 
had  been  thoroughly  disciplined,  seized  the  main,  the  eifective 
points  of  a  case  rapidly  and  presented  them  clearly.  He  knew 
what  to  omit  and  what  to  enforce — gifted  with  a  ready  elocu- 
tion, he  could  present  the  results  of  his  study  in  language  which 
expressed  precisely  what  he  wished  to  say.  He  came  directly 
to  the  point  and  urged  it  with  dignified  vehemence  upon  the 
attention  of  bench  and  jury.  He  dealt  little  in  mere  flowers  ; 
he  chose  terse,  strong  language,  in  which  to  clothe  his  finest 
conceptions.  His  temperament  was  ardent,  and  gave  to  his  ad- 
dress the  earnestness  and  the  fire  of  a  soul  alive  to  the  impor- 
tance of  the  cause  he  advocated.  His  feelings  kindled  with 
his  subject,  and  enabled  him  easily  to  enter  into  the  feelings 
of  his  clients.  These  active  sympathies  taking  part  naturally 
with  those  for  whom  he  was  engaged,  often  unconsciously 
swayed  his  intellectual  convictions,  and  although  he  may  have 
entered  upon  a  suit  with  indifference,  he  rarely  came  out  of  it 
without  being  deeply  enlisted.  This  power  of  becoming  one 
with  his  client ;  of  viewing  his  cause  as  just  and  true  ;  of  iden- 
tifying himself  with  all  that  is  fair  and  good  in  the  side  he  ad- 
vocated, while  it  gave  him  great  advantage  in  doubtful  cases, 
armed  him  with  uncommon  power  when  right  lay  on  his  side. 
For  it  is  one  of  the  most  obvious  laws  of  our  nature,  that  a 
man  really  in  earnest  at  his  work  shall  produce  effects  upon 
us  which  no  mere  trifler  can  possibly  produce.  The  sincere 
and  hearty  advocate  has  won  half  the  battle,  because  he  has 
won  our  sympathies  ;  and  it  will  be  strange,  if  thus  com- 
mended, his  demonstration  do  not  carry  it  even  over  the  more 
correct  representations  of  unfeeling  and  unmoving  logic.  En- 
tering thus  ardently  into  the  cause  he  advocated,  sympathiz- 
ing thus  warmly  with  his  client  in  what  there  was  of  truth 
and  justice  on  his  side,  he  pressed  his  suit  with  all^the  sin- 
cerity of  conviction  and  the  earnestness  of  personal  feeling. 

(2.)  He  never  relied,  except  where  it  was  unavoidable, 
upon  talents  or  genius,  or  past  legal  attainments.  He  gave 
to  each  cause  the  study  and  attention  which  its  importance 
required.     He  prepared  himself  in  the  office,  by  a  thorough 


438      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

analysis,  a  thorough  consultation  of  authorities,  and  a  faith- 
ful delineation  of  the  train  of  thought  he  designed  to  present. 
In  this  he  pursued  the  course  adopted  by  the  most  successful 
advocates  and  orators  in  all  ages  ;  a  course  which,  while  it  in- 
sures success  when  there  is  leisure  for  prejiaration,  also  pre- 
pares the  mind  to  achieve  it  when  obliged  to  speak  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment.  The  diligence  which  ordinarily  prepares 
thoroughly  is  the  finest  discipline  for  those  occasions  when, 
thrown  upon  the  resources  immediately  at  command,  the 
speaker  must  meet  objections  without  time  for  preparation, 
and  on  the  instant  summon  all  his  energies  to  turn  or  silence 
some  new  position  or  battery  suddenly  unmasked  upon  him. 
It  is  labor  that  conquers  all  things.  Cicero  never  could  have 
.delivered  that  mighty  speech  which  drove  Catiline  from  Rome; 
Webster  never  could,  at  such  short  notice,  have  pronounced 
that  great  argument  which  for  ever  settled  the  unconstitution- 
ality of  nullification  ;  had  they  not  both  been  men  of  profound 
research,  of  incessant  labor,  and  mature  understanding.  In  this 
respect  the  early  classical  and  liberal  training  of  Judge  Burnet 
was  of  immense  advantage.  It  gave  him  the  habit  of  study 
and  the  ability  easily  to  acquire  the  knowledge  most  useful 
to  him.  It  gave  temper  and  edge  to  the  blade,  and  skill 
to  use  it  with  greater  efficiency.  With  an  intellect  thus 
disciplined,  and  a  preparation  for  his  work  most  thorough, 
he  moved  forward  strongly  and  was  rarely  disappointed  in 
his  efforts.* 

*  His  first  cause  of  much  importance  was  the  defense  of  a  person  indicted  for 
murder.  As  this  was  a  very  important  cause,  and  the  first  that  really  tasked  his 
powers,  he  thought  it  necessary  to  prepare  himself  with  great  care;  and  to  make 
assurance  of  success  doubly  sure,  he  prepared  and  elaborately  wrote  out  his  speech, 
and  then  committed  it  to  memory.  When  he  rose  up  to  deliver  it,  however,  with 
the  exception  of  two  or  three  of  the  first  sentences,  he  could  not  recall  a  word 
of  it.  Hesitating,  and  greatly  embarrassed  for  a  few  moments  in  the  attempt  to 
recall  the  written  speech,  he,  at  length,  losing  sight  of  it  entirely,  boldly  launched 
out  in  an  unpremeditated  effort  (so  far  as  the  language  was  concerned),  and  was 
entirely  successful.  He  never  after  attempted  to  commit  a  written  argument  to 
memory.  It  was  his  custom  to  prepare  himself  with  great  care  for  speaking,  noting 
his  authorities,  going  over  the  whole  case  from  beginnhig  to  end  several  times  in 
his  mind,  and  even  framing  the  language  which  he  thought  most  appropriate. 


HISTORY,     THE     UNFOLDING     OF     PROVIDENCE.     439 

(3.)  But  there  was  one  other  cause  of  his  success  as  an 
advocate,  which  men  are  not  so  ready  to  appreciate,  lint 
which  often  exerts  a  powerful  influence  in  favor  of  its  pos- 
sessor. The  integrity  of  Judge  Burnet,  his  superiority  to  all 
chicane  and  trickery,  his  known  advocacy  of  whatever  was 
noble  and  pure,  and  the  personal  illustration  he  gave  of  it  in 
his  own  life,  formed  one  of  the  finest  preparations  for  useful- 
ness in  his  profession.  The  low,  the  mean,  the  tricks  of  dis- 
honpsty,  the  twisting  of  technicalities  to  secure  the  triumph 
of  fraud,  the  mere  assumption  of  a  virtuous  indignation  against 
wrong,  the  saying  professionally  for  effect,  what,  outside  the 
court  room,  was  an  oifense  to  morals  and  to  justice,  were  one 
and  all  not  only  foreign  to  his  character,  but  the  object  of  his 
loathing.  He  stooped  to  pander  to  no  base  passions  ;  he 
sought  no  victories  at  the  cost  of  filthy  witticisms  and  inde- 
cent allusions  ;  always  dignified,  courteous,  chaste,  sincere, 
he  spoke  as  he  felt,  he  argued  as  he  believed.  If  he  spoke 
with  indignation  against  the  wrong  done  his  client,  the  jury 
knew  that  it  was  not  done  for  efiect.  If  he  stated  an  opinion 
as  law,  they  knew  that  it  was  not  asserted  lightly,  nor  for  the 
purpose  of  leading  them  astray.  When  such  a  man,  with 
such  a  character  plead,  it  was  not  wonderful  that  honest  men 
listened  and  seemed  to  be  persuaded  that  he  was  right. 

These  various  causes  combined  to  give  him  a  commanding 
influence  in  his  jirofession,  and  a  corresponding  position  in 
society.  Had  he  possessed  more  ambition  and  less  diffidence  ; 
had  he,  urged  on  by  the  causes  which  have  either  driven  or 
drawn  other  men  up  to  greatness,  continued  to  practice  at  the 
bar,  his  career  would  have  been  one  of  the  most  splendid  ever 
chronicled  in  the  records  of  the  profession  in  this  land. 

In  1816,  after  a  practice  of  twenty  years,  in  the  full  ma- 
turity of  his  powers,  and  with  the  most  brilliant  prospects  be- 
fore him,  he  left  the  bar.     We  may  find  a  reason  for  this,  in 

When  he  came  to  speak,  he  found  himself  able  to  follow  the  train  of  thought  he 
had  pursued  in  his  study,  and  often  the  very  language  in  which  the  thoughts  were 
clothed,  rose  spontaneously  and  in  their  proper  connections.  This  great  care  in 
preparation  was,  undoubtedly,  one  secret  of  his  success. 


440      HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

part,  in  the  fact  that  his  fortune  was  sufficiently  ample  ;  in 
part,  also,  in  his  repeated  declaration  that  "  his  heart  was  not 
in  the  profession,"  "  that  he  practiced  law  from  a  sense  of  duty," 
and  when  the  pressure  of  duty  was  removed,  he  gave  up  the 
practice  ;  in  part,  also,  in  the  absence  of  that  ambition,  and 
that  fondness  for  public  life,  which  often  move  men  to  pur- 
sue a  successful  career  long  after  the  necessity  for  it  has  passed 
away.  He  was  not  long,  however,  permitted  to  remain  in 
private  life.  In  1821  he  was  persuaded  to  accept  an  appoint- 
ment from  the  Grovernor  to  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  was  subsequently  elected  to  the  same  place  by  the  Legis- 
lature. In  1828,  he  resigned  his  seat  on  the  bench,  and 
accepted  an  appointment  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
for  the  unexpired  term  of  his  old  friend.  General  Harrison, 
who  had  been  appointed  to  a  foreign  mission.  He  went  to 
the  Senate  on  the  condition  that,  on  the  expiration  of  the 
term,  he  should  not  be  considered  a  candidate  for  reelection, 
and  should  be  permitted  to  carry  out  his  long-cherished  pur- 
i)0se  of  retiring  to  private  life.  In  this  connection,  I  may 
more  properly  say  a  word  of  his  course  as  a  legislator,  before, 
as  well  as  at  this  period.  When,  in  1789,  the  Territory  entered 
upon  its  second  gi-ade  of  government.  Judge  Burnet  was  ap- 
pointed a  member  of  the  legislative  council,  in  which  post 
he  continued  until  the  organization  of  a  State  government, 
in  the  winter  of  1802-3.  While  acting  in  this  capacity,  it  is 
said  that  the  most  of  the  important  legislation  of  that  period 
received  largely  its  impress  and  form  from  his  hand.  Subse- 
quently, when  for  several  years  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State, 
his  influence  was  not  only  great,  but  eminently  hapjjy.  He 
succeeded,  by  his  researches  into  the  laws  of  Virginia,  and  his 
lucid  demonstrations  of  the  same,  in  settling  in  favor  of  Ohio, 
the  right  which  Kentucky  controverted,  of  arresting  criminals 
on  the  river  between  the  two  States.  At  a  subsequent  period, 
he  prepared,  and  secured  the  passage  through  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  of  a  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  great  mass  of 
early  settlers,  who  found  themselves  unable  to  meet  the  debt 
due  the  United  States  for  their  lands.    This  measure  was  not 


HISTORY,    THE    UNFOLDING     OF    PllOVIDENCE,     441 

t)uly  wise  and  equitable, 'but  its  favorable  influence  upon  the 
prosperity  and  rapid  settlement  of  the  country  incalculably 
>;ieat.  About  the  time  of  his  appointment  to  the  Supreme 
bench,  he  was  elected  to  fill  the  Professorship  of  Law  in  the 
University  at  Lexington,  Virginia,  and  he  received  from  that 
institution  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws — an  honor 
subsequently  also  conferred  upon  him  by  his  own  alma  mater, 
Nassau  Hall.  ^ 

Of  his  course  on  the  bench,  and  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  I  can  not  speak  at  length.  And  I  pass  this 
period  by  the  more  readily,  since  the  bar  have  elected,  to  pro- 
nounce a  eulogy  upon  him,*  one  who  was  his  associate  in  the 
former  position,  and  who  is  abundantly  able  to  do  full  justice 
to  the  learning,  the  ability,  and  the  integrity  with  which  he 
filled  those  high  offices.  In  Congress,  he  was  the  associate 
and  the  friend  of  Adams,  Clay  and  Webster,  and  enjoyed 
their  highest  respect  and  confidence.  He  stood  up  with  such 
men,  as  an  equal  in  vigor,  and  comprehensiveness  of  intellect, 
and  in  that  strength,  purity  and  dignity  of  character,  which 
exalts  and  adorns  the  true  statesman. 

It  is  now  more  than  twenty  years  since  Judge  Burnet  re- 
tired from  public  life.  He  had  already  passed  his  threescore 
years  when  he  sought  to  spend  the  evening  of  his  days  in  the 
quietude  of  his  family  circle.  During  this  long  period,  while 
his  sun  has  been  slowly  and  calmly  descending  in  the  West, 
he  has  not  been  an  indifferent  spectator  of  the  progress,  and 
of  the  changes  which  have  not  always  amounted  to  progress, 
in  the  State  and  Church.  His  interest  in  the  movements  and 
great  enterprises  of  society  suffered  no  abatement.  His  name 
stands  connected  with  many  of  our  most  interesting  and  bene- 
ficent institutions.  He  did  not  soon  grow  old.  His  eye  was 
as  bright,  his  form  as  erect,  his  spirits  as  animated,  his  inter- 
est in  the  young  as  intense  at  eighty  as  at  thirty.  He  moved 
among  the  present  generation  as  one  of  the  past,  and  yet  one 
of  the  present — a  link  that  connected  the  life  of  the  pioneers 
with  the  mighty  march  of  the  populous  city.     Since  his  re- 

*  The  Hon.  D.  K.  Este,  formerly  Judge  of  tlie  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio. 


442         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

tirement  from  public  service — since  he  has  been  an  old  man 
in  years — lie  has  witnessed  the  entrance  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  people  into  this  city  as  their  permanent  abid- 
ing place.  Amidst  the  unceasing  roar  and  restless  activity 
of  a  great  city,  he  looked  back  to  the  time  when  on  the  same 
spot  the  forest  spread  forth  its  giant  arms  and  claimed  suprem- 
acy. What  a  change  since,  fifty-seven  years  ago,  he  climbed 
the  steep  river  bank  and  found  himself  among  a  few  cabins  in 
the  wide  and  almost  unbroken  wilderness  ! 

Permit  me  now  before  I  conclude,  to  present  together  a 
few  points  in  his  character  of  chief  interest,  and  thus  prej)are 
our  minds  for  the  lessons  of  wisdom  which  such  a  history  is 
adapted  to  teach.  Such  a  man,  living  so  long,  occupying  such 
a  position,  impresses  the  image  of  himself  upon  many  minds. 
There  are  no  new  points  of  character  to  be  marked.  The 
life  of  eighty-three  years  is  long  enough  and  conspicuous 
enough  to  be  read  of  all  men. 

In  form  he  was  erect,  his  countenance  animated,  his  eye 
at  times  intensely  jjiercing.  His  very  walk,  his  first  appear- 
ance, told  the  stranger  that  he  was  no  ordinary  man. 

In  manners  he  was  dignified  and  courteous  to  all.  Beared 
in  the  school  of  Hamilton  and  Washington,  he  had  the  man- 
ners of  that  age  rather  than  of  this.  He  was  afiable  and  un- 
assuming. There  was  the  simplicity  of  true  greatness  in  liis 
character  and  tastes.  His  colloquial  powers  were  uncom- 
monly fine.  He  conversed  with  great  fluency,  and  expressed 
himself  in  ordinary  conversation  with  the  precision,  polish 
and  energy  of  an  accomplished  orator.  In  the  latter  years 
of  his  life,  when  the  conversation  turned  upon  the  past,  upon 
the  men  of  former  times  with  whom  he  became  acquainted  in 
his  youth,  he  often  launched  forth  in  description  of  scenes 
and  characters,  which  for  brilliancy  and  power  I  have  rarely 
heard  equaled. 

His  opinions  in  resjiect  to  most  subjects  on  which  he  had 
bestowed  thought  were  clear,  sharply  defined,  and  held  with 
great  tenacity.  His  prejudices,  like  his  temperament  and 
character,  were  decided,  deep  and  strong.     Often  severe  in  the 


HISTORY,    THE    UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE.     443 

expression  of  tbem,  he  yet  cherislied  no  personal  animosity, 
and  was  never  a  bitter  adversary.  When  at  any  time  they 
seemed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  prosperity  of  the  Cliurch  or 
the  good  of  society,  no  man  was  more  ready  to  act  directly 
in  the  face  of  them,  and  thus  give  forth  a  demonstration  of 
personal  control  which,  according  to  the  declaration  of  the 
wisest  of  men,  constitutes  a  victory  greater  than  of  him  who 
taketh  a  city. 

His  friendships  were  ardent  and  lasting.  Time  or  out- 
ward changes  made  with  liim  no  diiference.  He  Avho  once 
won  his  friendship,  unless  proved  to  be  totally  unworthy,  en- 
joyed it  for  life.  When  Aaron  Burr  was  in  this  place,  seek- 
ing to  enlist  the  public  men  of  this  region  in  his  treasonable 
attempt  to  sever  this  valley  from  the  East,  and  with  the 
South-west  snatched  by  violence  from  its  then  possessors, 
form  an  independent  government,  he  sought  an  interview  with 
Judge  Burnet.  The  request  was  peremptorily  refused,  and 
when  the  reason  for  such  a  refusal  was  asked,  he  declared  that 
he  would  never  shake  the  hand  of  the  murderer  of  Hamilton, 
his  father's  friend  and  his  own.  In  integrity  and  morality  he 
was  above  suspicion,  No  man  could  say  that  he  had  inten- 
tionally wronged  him.  No  man  could  bring  forth  against 
him  the  charge  of  such  a  public  immorality. 

Gifted  with  talents  of  a  high  order,  and  with  a  tempera- 
ment that  qualified  him  to  use  them  well,  he  yet  possessed  a 
peculiar  sensitiveness  to  the  assumption  of  public  responsi- 
bilities, and  a  shrinking  from  public  display  which  amounted 
to  diffidence.  He  was  not  ambitious  of  place  ;  he  was  driven 
to  accept  office  by  the  sense  of  duty,  and  not  by  the  impulse 
of  ambition.  As  soon  as  that  duty  was  discharged  he  retired 
to  private  life.  There  was  an  under  current  in  his  spirit  which 
often  escaped  the  superficial  obsei'ver ;  a  feeling  that  dreaded  to 
assume  responsibilities  he  might  not  be  able  satisfactorily  and 
fully  to  discharge  ;  a  native  sin-inking  from  much  that  other 
men,  less  delicately  organized,  would  not  hesitate  to  seek. 
His  "  Notes  on  the  North-western  Territory,"  while  they 
will  remain  as  a  monument  of  the  useful  life  of  the  author, 


444       HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

form  one  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  the  history  of 
this  region  ever  published.  Other  writers  have  detailed  more 
fully  the  domestic  life  and  the  more  stirring  scenes  in  the  first 
history  of  the  pioneers.  But  Judge  Burnet,  rising  above 
these,  has  given  us  the  civil  liberty ;  the  steps  by  which  gov- 
ernment was  founded,  and  the  men  who  figured  largely  in 
laying  the  foundations  of  law,  and  in  the  administration  of 
the  State.  He  has  rescued  from  the  oblivion  to  which  they 
were  hastening,  the  names  of  many  of  the  leaders  in  the  early 
l)ast  of  the  North-west,  and  given  them  their  just  position 
before  the  eyes  of  posterity.  This  important  work  he  com- 
pleted and  published  six  years  ago,  as  his  last  public  labor  for 
this  great  country. 

In  religion  he  was  first  of  all  a  firm  believer  in  the  truth 
of  Christianity  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible.  He  received 
this  book  as  the  only  insjnred  and  infallible  revelation  of  the 
will  of  Grod.  Modern  theorizers,  and  modern  theories,  exalt- 
ing Milton  and  Plato  to  the  same  position  with  God's  word, 
were  his  abhorrence.  He  studied  the  Bible  critically,  and 
whoever  will  consult  the  notes  to  his  work  on  the  North- 
west, will  understand  the  acumen  and  research  which  he 
sometimes  brought  to  solve  the  difficulties  of  the  sacred  word. 
He  read  theology  as  a  science,  sufficiently  to  understand  the 
variations  which  characterize  the  difierent  systems  of  the 
evangelical  churches.  He  held,  in  the  main,  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  as  the  most  consistent  unfold- 
ing in  any  of  the  uninspired  formularies  of  the  theology  of 
the  Bible. 

Ecclesiastically  he  was  a  Presbyterian  both  from  convic- 
tion and  preference.  He  believed  that  this  system  harmon- 
ized more  fully  than  any  other  with  the  power  of  primitive 
Christianity  in  its  earliest  and  purest  developments.  He 
loved  the  simplicity  of  its  services  and  the  republican  freedom 
of  its  chartered  rights.  He  regarded  it  as  a  happy  mean  be- 
tween the  opposite  extremes  of  Prelacy  and  Independency  ; 
conservative,  yet  free  ;  as  well  arranged  as  any  ecclesiastical 
system  could  well  be  to  counteract  the  tendencies  of  men,  on 


HISTORY,     THE     UNFOLDING     OF    PROVIDENCE.     445 

the  one  hand,  to  a  rigid  and  ruinous  formalism,  and  on  the 
other  to  the  exercise  of  an  undefined  and  all-tolerating  liberty ; 
yet  with  all  this  decision  of  preference  and  conviction,  he  was 
far  removed  from  bigotry  ;  he  sympathized  with  the  church 
he  loved  in  the  comprehensive  catholicity  of  her  standards, 
and  regarded  himself  as  carrying  out  the  the  essential  spirit 
of  her  constitution,  when  he  recognized  the  ministry  of  all 
evangelical  denominations  as  truly  a  Christian  ministry,  and 
saw  under  all  their  varying  forms  and  symbols  of  denomina- 
tional distinction,  the  one  living  and  true  Church  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

In  the  establishment  of  the  Church,  the  support  and  spread 
of  the  gospel,  he  has  ever  been  one  of  the  most  liberal  con- 
tributors. In  this  church,  from  its  first  organization  to  the 
day  of  his  death,  he  took  a  deep  interest.  If  there  was  one 
object  of  public  interest  that  lay  near  his  heart,  it  was  the 
jirosperity  of  this  society.  In  its  temporal  and  its  spiritual 
advancement  he  rejoiced.  To  his  wise  counsel,  his  generous 
aid,  his  steady  support,  we  have  always  looked  with  confi- 
dence, and  never  been  disappointed.  This  house  was  em- 
phatically and  has  been,  since  its  erection,  his  religious  home. 
In  rain  and  sunshine — in  heat  and  cold — often,  indeed,  when 
too  feeble  to  endure  the  exposure,  he  was  in  his  seat  at  the 
usual  time  of  divine  service,  one  of  the  most  interested  and 
devout  of  all  the  worshipers.  To  see  this  aged  man  when 
fourscore  years  had  past  over  and  beat  upon  him,  refusing 
the  aid  of  a  carriage,  yet  always  present  in  his  seat,  morning 
and  afternoon,  the  whole  year  round  when  not  absent  from 
the  city,  was  a  living  sermon,  an  encouragement  to  all  who 
loved  the  sanctuary,  and  a  burning  rebuke  to  the  effeminate 
and  slothful,  who  content  themselves  with  an  attendance  up- 
on a  single  service. 

It  would  be  to  us  all,  now,  a  crowning  excellence  of  this 
long  and  worthily  distinguished  life,  if  it  were  j^ermitted  me 
to  say  that  in  early  life  he  publicly  professed  his  faith  in  con- 
nection with  the  Church  of  Christ — that  ever  since  he  had 
fulfilled  the  duties  and  borne  the  responsibilities  of  a  Chris- 


446     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

tian — that  his  pious  exhortations  had  blessed  and  comforted 
multitudes,  and  that  he  had  gone  down  to  the  gi'ave  with  all 
those  external  marks  of  the  Christian  life.  But  this  I  can 
not  say.  What  then  can  be  said,  in  addition  to  that  testi- 
mony which  his  whole  career  affords,  to  warrant  in  us  the  as- 
surance that  our  departed  father  and  friend  truly  submitted 
liis  heart  to  the  humbling  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  embraced 
Christ  penitently  and  believingly  as  his  only  Saviour  ?  We 
are  not  his  judges  ;  but  we  can  neither  be  indifferent  to  such 
a  quostian  as  this,  nor  dismiss  it  with  the  common,  and,  too 
often,  utterly  unfounded  expression  of  a  hope  that  all  is  well. 
All  things  earthly  ;  all  the  moralities  and  formalities  of  time  ; 
all  the  graces  ancj.  talents  that  refine  and  adorn  a  distinguished 
man  in  this  world,  grow  dark  and  worthless  at  the  advent  of 
death.  Then  nothing  should  satisfy  us  that  will  not  satisfy 
the  Judge  of  the  quick  and  dead  ;  nothing  should  be  permitted 
to  give  us  support  that  is  not  sufficient  to  suj^port  the  soul  it- 
self in  the  hour  of  its  trial.  No  one  understood  better  than 
our  deceased  friend  the  unalterable  truth,  that  except  a  man 
be  born  again,  he  can  not  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  No  man 
knew  better  than  he  that,  except  we  repent  and  believe  on  the 
only  Saviour,  we  shall  all  perish.  He  admitted  this  heart- 
rending truth  most  fully  ;  and  received  as  the  truth  of  God 
all  the  associated  doctrines  of  the  cross.  Did  Iiq  then  repent 
and  believe  unto  the  salvation  of  his  soul  ?  His  position,  his 
character,  his  services,  his  long  life,  and  our  own  deep  personal 
esteem  and  ardent  att;ichment,  render  us  peculiarly  solicitous 
to  know  that  his  feet  were  i>lanted  on  the  rock  Christ  Jesus. 
Now,  in  attempting  to  settle  this  question,  I  might  ana- 
lyze his  whole  life,  and  bring  together,  in  one  focus,  the  scat- 
tered rays  that  shine  forth  from  the  past  ;  I  might  combine 
his  faith  in  the  divine  testimony  ;  his  long-settled  principles 
of  right  action  ;  his  deep  interest  in  all  that  pertained  to  the 
house  of  God,  and  the  prosperity  of  Zion  ;  his  conscientious 
endeavors  always  to  pursue  the  path  of  rectitude — and  in  such 
a  survey,  impartially  and  truly  made,  we  should  find  many 
and  various  indications  of  the  fact,  that  the  truth  of  God  had 


HISTORY,     THE     UNFOLDING     OF     PROVIDENCE.      447 

actually  taken  deep  and  vital  hold  of  liis  nature,  and  existed 
within  him  as  both  a  law  and  a  quickening  power  of  life. 
But  on  this  subject,  I  prefer  to  give  you  no  suppositions,  or 
inferences,  or  reasonings  of  my  own,  however  just  and  true 
they  might  be.  It  will  be  far  better  for  me  simply  to  give 
forth  his  2)ersonal  utterances,  and  leave  you  to  judge  how  they 
appear  in  association  with  his  well-known  life.  A  few  months 
before  his  death,  in  several  conversations,  he  unfolded  to  me 
the  state  of  his  feelings.  Breaking  through  that  constitu- 
tional reserve,  in  respect  to  his  religious  experience,  which 
not  being  overcome  early,  had  ripened  into  all  the  strength  of 
habit,  he  gave  me  a  candid  statement  of  his  views,  his  antici- 
pations, and  the  ground  of  his  hopes.  He  stated  that,  al- 
though he  had  for  many  years  endeavored  to  have  a  conscience 
void  of  offense  toward  all  men,  yet  that  he  felt  himself  to  be 
a  sinner,  in  himself  undone  and  wholly  unworthy  the  divine 
favor.  He  embraced  heartily  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and 
as  a  sinner  rested  his  hopes  only  on  the  merits  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  stated  that  he  had  had  for  years  a  critical 
difhculty  in  respect  to  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper ; 
on  which,  however,  as  he  differed  from  the  Church  generally, 
and  might  be  in  error,  he  had  kept  silence,  lest  he  should  un- 
necessarily offend  the  children  of  God,  and  injure  feelings  that 
he  wished  to  gi'atify  and  improve  ;  that  had  he  entertained 
the  usual  views  of  that  ordinance,  he  never  would  have  thus 
delayed  to  become  a  communicant.  He  said  that,  relying 
only  on  Christ,  his  mind  was  peaceful  in  view  of  death  ;  that 
while  his  family  and  all  things  around  him  invited  him  to 
stay  here,  yet  he  had  no  desire  to  live  ;  his  work  was  done, 
and  it  was  better  for  him  to  depart  and  be  at  rest.  These 
views  and  feelings  he  reiterated  at  different  times.  Duiing 
his  last  illness,  when  his  mind  was  clear,  although  he  was 
unable  to  keep  it  fixed  long  on  any  one  point,  he  repeated 
with  emphasis  his  confession  of  sin,  his  faith  in  the  Saviour, 
and  his  desire  to  bear  his  testimony  to  the  world,  both  of  the 
truth,  and  in  his  own  personal  experience,  of  the  sustaining 
power  of  the  gospel. 


448     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES    AND    ESSAYS. 

At  what  tiuic  lie  became  thus  personally  intere-sted  in  re- 
ligion, he  did  not — perhaps  he  could  not — inform  me.  It 
was  certainly  not  a  recent  experience.  He  may  have  long 
■wrestled  in  secret  ;  he  may  have  long  been  harassed  wdth 
doubts  and  fears  ;  at  length,  the  clouds  may  have  been  lifted, 
and  the  sunlight  of  peace  rested  upon  his  soul.  From  the 
time  when  he  left  college,  there  has  been  an  influence  abiding 
on  him,  which  was  not  of  man  or  of  earth.  At  various  times 
there  have  been  the  manifestations  of  a  quickened  religious 
sensibility,  and  an  unusual  interest  in  the  things  of  eternity  ; 
and  could  we  enter  into  the  past  of  his  life  fully,  we  might 
see  that  which  would  both  humble  and  encourage  us.  His 
deliberate  and  oft -repeated  remark,  that  he  practiced  law  from 
a  sense  of  duty,  and  that  his  heart  was  never  in  it  ;  the  re- 
mark so  often  made,  that  he  never  could  see  a  young  minister 
enter  the  pulpit,  without  almost  envying  him  his  work  ;  his 
uniform  devotedness  ;  his  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath  ; 
his  constant  study  of  the  word  of  God,  and  all  things  else 
connected  with  his  public  and  private  life,  in  harmony  with 
these,  reveal  a  power  long  operating  within  him;  and  2>ower- 
fuUy  affecting  him,  that  was  from  above.  It  is,  indeed,  a 
matter  of  deep  regret,  that  these  impulses  heavenward  had 
not  been  fully  obeyed.  It  is  the  chief  mistake  of  his  life, 
otherwise  so  noble,  and  so  useful,  and  so  pure,  that  he  did 
not  at  the  outset,  when  first  hope  began  to  dawn  upon  his 
soul,  when  he  fii'st  experienced  the  power  of  eternal  things, 
come  forth  and  connect  himself  with  the  Church  of  Christ,  in 
the  bond  of  a  formal  confession.  Had  he  yielded  then  to 
these  first  movings  of  life  in  his  heart ;  had  he  then  overcome 
the  shrinking  of  his  nature  from  assuming  a  profession  he 
feared  he  might  not  adorn  ;  liad  he  broken  through  that  re- 
serve which  concealed  his  spiritual  exercises  from  the  world, 
judging  after  the  manner  of  men,  what  a  bright  career  would 
his  have  been  !  Beautiful  and  rich  in  instruction,  as  it  is, 
how  much  more  beautiful  and  rich  would  it  have  been  ! 
What  a  pillar  of  light,  as  well  as  of  strength,  would  have  been 
planted  in  the  house  of  God  !     How  would  he  himselfj  from 


HISTORY,    THE    UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE,      449 

such  decision  and  such  intimacy  of  Christian  association,  and 
such  purity  of  conscience,  towards  God  as  well  as  men,  have 
gathered  strength  for  the  performance  of  the  outward  and  spe- 
cial duties  which  press  uj)on  a  professor  of  the  religion  of  Jesus! 

I  speak  thus  for  the  benefit  of  the  young  and  the  middle 
aged,  wlio  from  this  example  may  seek  to  gather  light  for 
their  own  guidance,  and  strength  for  their  own  encourage- 
ment. In  this  life,  amidst  these  temptations  that  assault  us 
at  every  step,  with  these  imperfect  hearts,  and  these  weak 
and  often  wavering  resolutions,  -it  is  of  immense,  yea,  of  vital 
importance  to  most  of  us,  that  we  avail  ourselves  of  the 
strength  of  Christian  association,  and  Christian  ordinances, 
and  all  the  divine  arrangements  for  the  promotion  of  the 
Christian  life.  It  is  for  this  very  purpose  of  support  and 
comfort ;  it  is  to  infuse  courage  into  the  weak,  and  vigor  into 
the  slothful,  and  assist  the  soul  in  its  conflict  with  the  world, 
the  flesh  and  the  devil,  that  God  has  graciously  bestowed  upon 
us  these  privileges  which  attach  to  a  public  profession,  and 
which  we  can  not  or  will  not  avail  ourselves  of  fully  unless 
we  formally  identify  ourselves  with  the  disciples  of  Christ. 
There  is  scarcely  any  way  to  darken  whatever  evidences  we 
may  have  of  a  renewed  state,  and  unnerve  ourselves  for  those 
Christian  acts  which  stand  out  in  public  opposition  to  the 
course  of  the  world,  so  effectual  as  that  of  neglecting  a  public 
and  unmistakable  identification  of  ourselves  with  the  follow- 
ers of  Christ,  when  we  first  begin  to  hope  in  the  personal  ap- 
propriation of  the  justifying  righteousness  of  Christ.  And 
sure  I  am,  from  his  departing  testimony,  this  venerable  man, 
were  he  now  present,  would  afiirm  every  word  I  now  utter, 
and  urge  upon  you  the  same  all-important  duty. 

Were  I  now  to  go  into  the  home-life  of  Judge  Burnet, 
into  those  quiet  scenes  of  domestic  enjoyment  where  he  shone 
forth  in  the  mingled  dignity  and  affection  of  a  father  and 
friend,  of  the  discipline  with  w^hich  he  sought  to  train  his 
household  in  the  love  and  practice  of  all  that  was  virtuous, 
good  and  ennobling  ;  were  I  to  describe  how  he  has  encour- 
aged the  young  man  struggling  with  adverse  influences,  and 

29 


450         HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

has  sought  to  promote  those  associations  and  institutions  and 
public  enterprises  in  this  city  which  are  adapted  to  elevate 
and  improve  society  ;  were  I  to  describe  him  then  as  the  citi- 
r.en  ;  as  the  father  ;  as  the  husband  who  for  fifty-three  years 
;iad  walked  in  the  purest  and  sweetest  intercourse  with  her 
who,  in  the  decline  of  life,  finds  her  staif  broken,  her  home 
solitary,  since  the  warm  heart  and  the  strong  hand  and  the 
sympatliizing  .partner  of  all  her  joys  and  sorrows  has  gone 
from  her  ;  were  I  thus  to  sketch  fully  our  departed  friend, 
the  midnight  hour  would  strike  before  a  fit  conclusion  could 
fee  reached,  I  have  said  enough  for  this  occasion  ;  enough  to 
those  on  whose  memories  for  half  or  a  quarter  of  a  century 
this  noble  character  has  been  silently  impressing  its  form  and 
life.  To  those  who  are  comparatively  strangers  to  him,  I  have 
said  enough  to  show  them  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  in 
the  history  of  this  North-west  ;  one  identified  with  its  in- 
fancy and  youth  ;  a  foremost  actor  in  the  scenes  which  are 
Ijringing  forth  such  wide-spread  and  noble  results. 

Here  is  in  this  life,  thus  unfolded,  encouragement  to  par- 
ents, and  instruction  for  the  masses  of  youth,  who,  leaving 
the  psfreutal  roof,  go  forth  to  seek  their  fortune  and  spend 
their  days  among  strangers. 

Behold  !  the  elFect  of  early  discipline  and  religious  train- 
ing, in  preparing  the  mind  to  meet  and  resist  the  .temptations 
of  new  scenes  !  The  foundations  of  character  and  usefulness 
in  this  case,  as  in  almost  every  other,  are  laid  silently,  deeply 
and  strongly,  in  the  nursery,  the  school-room,  and  the  church. 
There  men  are  formed  ;  there  shape  is  given  to  the  character, 
and  that  development  of  it  begun  which  after  life  may  hasten 
or  retard,  but  can  never  wholly  change.  The  parent  is  God's 
molder,  and  around  him  are  those  influences  of  might,  created 
of  Heaven,  to  clothe  him  with  power,  and  impart  efficiency 
to  all  his  plannings.  Let  him  not  despond  if  sometimes  a 
hard  nature  seems  unyielding  ;  a  peiwerse  nature  rebellious  ; 
a  stupid  nature  unteachable.  Patiently  let  him  toil ;  with 
prayer  let  him  water  his  seed  sown  ;  then  let  him  be  assured 
that  in  due  time  he  shall  return  with  joy,  bringing  his  sheaves 


HISTORY,    THE     UNFOLDING    OF    PROVIDENCE.     451 

with  liim.  The  richest  blessing  you  can  bestow  upon  your 
child  is  a  truly  religious  education.  With  that,  no  matter 
where  he  may  be  thrown  in  after  life  ;  what  seas  or  continents 
may  separate  him  from  those  who  gave  him  being,  he  can 
never  lose  the  precious  legacy  ;  and  in  the  great  majority  of 
instances,  it  will  be  to  him  an  anchor  to  hold  him  amid  the 
storm,  and  a  preparation  for  the  obtaining  of  that  precious 
Christian  hope,  which  shall  be  to  him  a  stronger  anchor,  to 
hold  him  secure  amidst  the  agitated  waters  of  death. 

Behold  !  illustrated  in  this  life  the  influence  of  an  enter- 
prising and  upright  character  !  The  young  man  finds  himself 
far  from  home,  tempters  on  every  side  of  him,  seductions  to 
pleasure  and  to  vice,  assault  him  mightily  ;  but  his  heart  is 
resolved  to  follow  the  path  of  integrity  ;  he  holds  on,  amidst 
the  boastings  and  cavilings  of  infidelity,  to  the  inspiration  of 
this  Holy  Book  ;  he  seeks  to  guide  his  life  by  its  precepts, 
and  asks  for  strength  of  its  good  Author.  Behold  the  result. 
The  pleasure  seeker,  the  vicious,  the  man  who  knows  no  Grod, 
pass  away  from  all  their  bright  prospects,  or  live  only  to  illus- 
trate the  folly  of  him  who  makes  of  this  world  a  god.  While 
he  who  refused  to  conform  to  their  customs  ;  who  refused  to 
countenance  their  orgies,  lives  to  be  eminently  useful  and 
honored,  and  dies  amidst  the  richest  manifestations  of  God's 
love. 

Behold  here,  too,  the  sustaining  power  of  an  humble  reli- 
ance upon  Jesus  for  salvation.  At  peace  with  man  and  at 
peace  with  Grod,  our  aged  father  went  to  his  rest.  The  world 
was  bright,  his  family  dear  to  him,  all  that  could  enrich*  of 
earthly  good  was  at  his  door,  yet  he  wished  not  to  stay  ;  but 
calmly  bowed  himself  to  the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father. 

This  venerable  patriarch  of  fourscore  years  we  shall  see  no 
more  on  earth.  The  church  will  lean  on  him  no  more  ;  soci- 
ety feel  no  more  the  influence  of  his  immediate  presence. 
That  home  where  he  and  his  companion  have  so  long  abode, 
and  where  we  have  witnessed  the  calm  setting  of  his  sun,  will 
know  him  no  more  for  ever.  This  sanctuary  which  he  aided 
to  rear  and  adorn,  where  he  has  so  long  been  one  of  the  most 


452     HISTORICAL     DISCOURSES     AND     ESSAYS. 

interested  of  worshipers,  shall  see  him  no  more.  No  more 
shall  he  meet  his  old. companions  in  public  life,  and  rehearse 
the  past,  and  look  forward  with  hope  to  the  future.  The 
eloquent  advocate,  the  learned  judge,  the  profound  statesman, 
the  enter23rising  and  upright  citizen — the  loving  husband — 
the  kind  father — the  venerated  patriarch,  at  whose  feet  the 
old  and  young  delighted  to  sit  and  learn  lessons  of  wisdom, 
has  gone  from  us  for  ever.  Venerable  in  years,  loaded  with 
honors,  beloved  by  multitudes,  surrounded  by  children,  and 
children's  children,  penitent  for  sin,  and  as  a  sinner  reposing 
in  Christ  alone  for  salvation,  he  has  left  this  transient  scene, 
and  ascended  to  one  infinitely  grander  and  nobler.  His  name 
and  fame  are  treasured  in  the  records  of  this  vast  West ;  his 
influence  for  good  will  spread  itself  further  and  wider  with 
the  progress  of  our  population.  We  have  laid  his  body  in 
the  grave,  but  he  lives,  not  merely  in  the  spirit  which  with 
renovated  youth  now  praises  and  adores  on  high  ;  he  lives  in 
the  character  he  has  borne,  in  the  life  he  has  manifested  ;  in 
the  deeds  he  has  worthily  performed  ;  in  the  results  which 
from  his  labors  and  those  of  his  early  associates  are  daily 
growing  wider  and  vaster.  He  lives  in  our  memories  and  in 
our  lives.  With  gratitude  this  day  do  we  recognize  the  good- 
ness of  God,  whose  providence  runs  through  all  history,  by 
whom  he  was  prepared  for  this  pioneer  life,  then  guided  to 
this  spot,  sustained  amidst  j^hysical  and  moral  perils  and 
trials,  and  made  at  length  a  benefactor  to  this  land. 

The  fathers  one  by  one  are  leaving  us.  The  chains  that 
bound  us  to  the  colonial  and  pioneer  life  of  our  country  are 
one  by  one  severed.  Here  one  and  there  another,  like  aged 
trees,  towering  far  above  the  youthful  forest,  still  remain. 
Let  us  cherish  their  memory  ;  let  us  imitate  all  that  is  just, 
noble,  patriotic  and  wise  in  their  lives  ;  let  us  record  their 
acts,  and  tell  them  to  our  children  as  part  of  God's  beneficent 
providence  to  our  country.  Above  all  things  else,  while  we 
cherish  our  free  institutions,  while  through  the  memory  of 
our  fathers  and  the  quickening  story  of  the  past  we  seek  to 
form  the  future  generations  to  such  sentiments  and  disposi- 


HISTOEY,    THE     UNFOLDING     OF    PROVIDENCE,     453 

tions  as  befit  these  institutions,  yet  let  us  first  of  all  seek  the 
benediction  of  that  God  who  can  raise  up  for  us  leaders  in  the  ■ 
hour  of  danger,  and  men  of  strength  to  support  and  guide  us 
in  weakness  and  perplexity  ;  let  us  labor  at  the  foundations 
by  seeking  for  a  truly  religious  culture,  and  spreading  abroad 
the  knowledge  of  that  Book  which,  the  moment  its  truths  are 
understood  and  felt  in  the  soul,  the  chains  of  slavery  fall,  and 
the  captive  stands  forth  in  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  Grod. 
Let  us  educate  the  children  of  this  swelling  f)opulation  in 
that  knowledge  which  illuminates  both  mind  and  heart ;  let 
us  seek  for  them  that  training  which  ennobles  and  exalts  ; 
which  alike  prepares  its  possessor  to  fill  a  useful  sphere  on 
earth,  and  at  length  rise  to  the  life  of  unfading  glory  in 
heaven.  You  must  all  die.  Old  age  with  its  decrepitude 
comes  to  all  who  pass  manhood's  prime.  Death  comes  oftener 
long  before  that  period  is  reached.  The  dead  to-day  is  an 
exception  to  the  common  law  of  mortality.  But  soon  or  late 
you  must  die,  and  then  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ.  Let  it  be,  then,  our  first,  our  daily,  our  chief  concern 
so  to  live  that  while  we  serve  our  country  as  true  patriots,  we 
may  also  serve  our  Eedeemer  as  true  Christians. 

"  So  live  that  when  thy  summons  comes  to  join 
The  innumerable  caravan,  that  moves 
To  that  mysterious  realm  where  each  shall  take 
His  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death, 
Thou  go  not  hke  the  quarry  slave  at  night, 
Scourged  to  his  dungeon ;  but  sustained  and  soothed 
By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  thy  grave 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams." — Bryant. 

So  live,  my  hearers,  assured  that  if  for  you  to  live  is  Chiist, 
to  die  will  be  gain.  Then  when  the  summons  comes  for  your 
departure,  you  will  welcome  it  as  the  voice  of  love  from  the 
Eden  where  your  treasures  have  long  been  laid  uj) ;  stripped 
of  all  his  terrors,  Death  will  be  the  herald  of  salvation  com-, 
pleted ;  and  while  the  body  is  laid  aside  till  the  renovation  of 
the  resurrection  morning,  the  soul,  upborne  on  angel  pinions, 
ascends  to  dwell  with  Christ  and  the  redeemed  for  ever. 


OCCASIONAL    SERMONS. 


XIII. 

CONFLICT  AND    REST    IN    THE   CHURCH.* 

"  Then  had  the  churches  rest  throughout  all  Judea  and  Galilee  and  Samaria, 
and  were  edified,  and  walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  comfort  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  were  multiiDhed." — Acts,  ix  31. 

Thus  ended  the  first  persecution.  It  had  subserved  an 
important  purpose  in  the  preparation  of  the  infant  Church 
for  its  great  mission.  It  had  tested  the  faith  of  its  mem- 
bers. They  had  experienced  that  baptism  of  fire  which,  from 
age  to  age,  was  destined  to  fall  upon  the  Church  of  Jesus. 
They  had  begun  to  enter  upon  the  fellowship  of  Christ's  suf- 
ferings. The  blood  of  the  first  Christian  martjT,  shed  in 
attestation  of  the  truth,  revealed  the  path  of  sufiering  along 
which  the  Church  must  pass,  the  power  of  the  faith  to  lift 
her  above  the  fear  of  death.  And  more  than  this,  these 
Christians  scattered  abroad,  as  the  flames  hidden  for  a  season 
in  a  single  building,  when  flung  forth  by  an  explosion,  spread 
themselves  on  all  sides,  so  they  went  everywhere  bearing  the 
holy  fire  and  kindling  the  flame  of  divine  love  in  thousands 
of  hearts. 

Then  came  the  season  of  repose.  The  fiercest  of  her  per- 
secutors, now  become  the  lowliest  of  her  children,  was  pass- 
ing through  that  experience  which  was  to  make  him  the  pro- 
foundest  expositor  of  Christian  theology,  the  boldest  and 
most  successful  evangelist  to  the  Gentiles,  the  grandest  and 
most  remarkable  figure  in  the  whole  college  of  the  apostles. 
From  this  retirement,  where  had  been  nourished  into  full 
strength  the  great  principles  of  the  doctrines  of  Jesus,  he  was 

*  Delivered  in  Chicago,  III,  May  20,  1858,  at  the  opening  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States. 


458  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

soon  to  issue  forth  on  that  holy  career  which  set  two  conti- 
nents in  a  blaze,  prepared  the  way  and  laid  broad  the  founda- 
tion for  still  mightier  triumphs.  The  Church,  now  at  peace, 
began  to  organize  and  consolidate  her  forces.  Her  faith,  deep- 
ened and  strengthened  by  trial,  instinct  with  a  divine  life, 
gave  an  irresistible  momentum  to  her  advance.  Looking  up 
to  the  Captain  of  her  salvation,  she  entered  upon  that  jiath  of 
conquest  which  is  to  cease  only  when  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  have  become  the  kingdoms  of  her  Lord.  This  season 
of  repose  was  full  of  blessing.  It  was  needed,  lest  the  young 
life  should  be  utterly  crushed  out  by  the  powers  of  darkness. 
The  eaglet  can  not  at  once  soar  to  the  sun  ;  its  first  battle 
with  the  storm  tires  its  young  wings,  and  soon  compels  it  to 
seek  repose.  The  faith  of  the  Church,  while  it  stood  upon  the 
rock  Christ  Jesus,  was  not  yet  buttressed  round  by  a  past  full 
of  rich  experience  ;  nor  consolidated  by  custom  and  habit  ; 
nor  illuminated  by  those  broad  developments  of  the  scheme 
of  redemption  which  inspiration  afterwards  from  time  to  time 
sent  forth.  The  season  of  peace  gave  time  for  the  edification 
of  the  Church.  The  Holy  Spirit,  working  ever  in  harmony 
with  mental  laws,  then  went  forth  on  His  special  mission  of 
renovation.  New  churches  were  organized  ;  believers  multi- 
plied ;  Christianity  gained  a  higher  and  broader  position  for 
future  conquest.  The  disciples,  a  little  before  weak  and  trem- 
bling, now,  filled  with  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  sustained  and 
guided  by  the  divine  Comforter,  went  everywhere  preaching 
the  Word.  Lay  preachers,  ordained  of  Grod,  baptized  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire,  they  found  thousands  prepared  to 
receive  the  gospel ;  and  as  they  walked  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  and  preached  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit,  converts 
were  multiplied,  churches  organized,  and  the  way  prepared 
for  a  still  wider  expansion  of  the  limits  of  Christianity.  This 
was  the  second  great  revival.  Thus  we  have  brought  out  di- 
rectly in  our  text  the  state  of  rest  which  the  Church  enjoyed 
and  the  ministrations  of  the  Spirit  under  which  she  was  edi- 
fied and  multiplied.  But  as  we  can  not  well  discuss  the  sub- 
ject of  rest  without  also  looking  at  the  state  of  conflict  which 


CONFLICT     AND     KEST     IN     THE     CHURCH.      451) 

is  SO  effectively  connected  with  it,  I  propose  to  call  your 
attention  first  to  the  conditions  of  conflict  and  of  rest  into 
which  the  Church  from  time  to  time  passes,  and  then  briefly 
to  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit,  through  which  alone  either 
of  these  conditions  is  made  to  subserve  her  highest  good.  In 
other  words,  I  wish  to  show  you  how  the  Church  advances- 
through  a  twofold  law — a  law  of  conflict  and  repose  ;  at  the 
same  time,  to  evince  that  whatever  advantages  or  disadvan- 
tages these  conditions  may  have  naturally,  it  is  the  Spirit  of 
Grod  alone  that  can  make  the  one  effective  for  good  and  coun- 
teract the  evil  of  the  other. 

Conflict  rather  than  rest  has  been  the  chief  characteristic 
of  an  advancing  church ;  and  what  has  been  true  for  a  time 
will  still  be,  until  the  conditions  which  have  induced  it  are 
largely  changed.  Side  by  side  with  the  angelic  chorus, 
"Peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men,"  stands  that  pro- 
phetic declaration  of  the  Master,  "  I  come  not  to  send  peace, 
but  a  sword."  The  individual  Christian  represents  in  him- 
self alike  the  necessity  and  the  sources  of  this  conflict  in  which 
the  Church  must  engage.  For  as  between  the  old  man  and 
the  new  there  is  perpetual  hostility,  "the  flesh  lusting  against 
the  spirit  and  the  spirit  against  the  flesh,"  so  between  the 
principles  of  Christ  embodied  in  and  partially  shining  forth 
from  the  Church,  and  the  principles  which  now  rule  in  the 
world,  there  is  a  natural  hostility.  The  carnal  mind  is  en- 
mity towards  God.  From  this  source  spring  all  the  outward 
trials  of  Christ's  body.  Hating  the  Master,  they  anathema- 
tize the  disciple  ;  nailing  the  Lord  to  the  cross,  they  stone 
the  faithful  servant. 

And  as  in  the  individual  Christian,  through  his  manifold 
weakness,  there  is  sometimes  seen  a  sad  development  of  error 
in  thought  and  worldliness  in  life,  from  which  he  is  delivered 
only  by  great  inward  struggles  and  a  baptism  of  fire,  so  in 
the  Church  at  large  there  is  ofttimes  a  secret  growth  of  error, 
a  gradual  assimilation  to  the  world,  out  of  which  the  Spirit 
conducts  her  often  through  a  travail  of  sorrow  like  unto  that 
of  her  Lord. 


460 


OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 


And  as  the  Christian,  advancing  in  knowledge,  learns  how 
more  fully  to  apply  the  principles  of  Christianity  to  practical 
life,  and  sees  more  clearly  evils  once  embraced  or  tolerated, 
which  now  must  he  renounced,  cost  what  it  may,  so  the 
Church  in  her  j)rogress  reaches  a.  position  to  which,  with  a 
riper  judgment,  she  applies  the  touchstone  of  truth  to  prac- 
tices adopted  in  some  hour  of  inexperience,  tolerated  while 
the  light  was  increasing,  but  now  seen  to  be  evils — evils  to  be 
renounced  cost  what  it  may.  So  at  Geneva,  Calvin,  while  in 
principle  giving  all  spiritual  power  to  the  Church,  permitted 
the  State  to  hold  a  relationship  to  it  which  time  has  demon- 
strated to  be  the  source  of  manifold  evils.  So  in  the  English 
Iteformation,  elements  of  that  spiritual  despotism  out  of 
which  the  Church  had  come,  were  permitted  to  remain,  which 
have  since  brought  forth  only  evil.  Now  from  these  causes 
it  is  that  the  advance  of  the  Church  of  Christ  hitherto  has 
been  marked  by  conflict.  The  native  hostility  of  the  world, 
or  of  spiritual  despotisms,  Christian  only  in  name,  has  be- 
gotten outward  persecution,  has  watered  her  path  with  the 
tears  of  confessors  and  the  blood  of  martyrs.  The  growth  of 
error  and  of  earthly  principles  among  her  own  members  on 
the  one  side,  and  on  the  other  her  progress  in  knowledge,  re- 
vealing the  evil  of  practices  respecting  which  her  conscience 
was  long  untroubled  and  her  mind  in  darkness,  have  neces- 
sitated inward  conflicts.  Thus  hath  it  been  from  the  be- 
ginning. 

This  state  of  conflict  has  advantages  and  disadvantages 
which  it  is  for  us  to  consider. 

1,  The  first  of  the  happy  results  of  this  condition  of  things 
is  that  which  immediately  followed  this  persecution.  It  was 
incidental,  I  might  say  mechanical,  yet  none  the  less  mighty 
in  the  advancement  of  religion.  It  scattered  abroad  the  dis- 
ciples. It  stirred  up  their  quiet  nest  at  Jerusalem.  It 
opened  to  their  minds  the  breadth  of  their  mission,  and 
taught  them,  as  when  all  prosperous  and  happy  at  home 
they  could  not  so  well  have  learned,  the  true  meaning  of 
Christ's  last  command.     Natm-ally  enough  they  would  have 


CONFLICT     AND     REST      IN     THE     CHURCH.      461 

supposed  that  the  city  of  the  great  King,  the  religious  center 
of  the  world,  must  first  he  thoroughly  subdued  to  Christ, 
before  the  gospel  could  go  forth  to  other  cities.  But  GtckI 
had  other  purposes.  Jerusalem  is  no  longer  to  be  the  central 
glory  of  the  earth.  Fire  sliall  devour  its  temple  ;  famine 
and  sword  its  peoj)le  ;  while  Titus  shall  drive  his  plowshare 
over  Mount  Zion.  Pei'secution  comes  to  teach  the  disciples 
wisdom  ;  it  accomplishes  what  prophecy  and  command 
failed  to  eifect ;  and  so  they  began  to  illustrate  what  Jesus 
had  foretold  to  the  Samaritan,  "  Woman  !  the  hour  cometh, 
when  ye  shall,  neither  in  this  niountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem, 
worship  the  Father." 

The  same  results  have  repeatedly  followed  persecution 
along  the  histoiy  of  the  churches.  The  Huguenot  and  the 
Puritan,  obeying  the  spirit  of  the  injunction,  "  when  they 
persecute  you  in  this  city,  flee  ye  into  another,"  have  erected 
a  kingdom  for  Jesus  in  this  new  world — a  kingdom  so  situ- 
ated, with  such  vast  resources,  its  subjects  so  governed  and 
trained  in  the  truth,  its  youth  so  rich  in  intelligence,  enter- 
prise, and  strength,  that,  unless  the  powers  of  darkness  shall 
be  permitted  to  corrupt  its  spirit,  its  manhood  will  stretch  its 
arms  forth  to  embrace  all  the  families  and  tribes  of  men,  and 
draw  them  into  fellowship)  with  Jesus. 

Indirectly,  also,  persecution  often  facilitates  the  triumph 
of  the  truth.  It  gives  notoriety  to  that  which  is  obscure,  and 
forces  men  to  think  on  truths  which  had  in  vain  addressed 
their  minds,  preoccupied  with  prejudice  and  error.  There  is, 
too,  a  secret  sympathy,  springing  from  our  true  humanity, 
which  leads  us  to  side  with  the  unfortunate.  Power,  again 
and  again  finds  itself  baffled,  and  its  plans  miscarry,  because 
it  has  roused  the  native  instinct  against  oppression,  and  the 
natural  fellowship  with  suffering  which  only  the  deepest  de- 
pravity can  extinguish.  And  thus  by  a  natural  law  the  way 
is  sometimes  prepared  for  the  entrance  of  the  truth,  on  ac- 
count of  which  the  Christian  suffers. 

2.  A  second  happy  effect  of  this  extreme  conflict  is  seen  in 
its  influence  upon  the  experience  of  the  Church.     For  now 


462  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

comes  the  law  of  action,  when  principles  are  to  be  tested, 
when  the  power  of  faith  is  to  be  put  forth.  The  unworthy, 
loosely  attached  to  the  Church  by  many  earthly  ties,  fall  off 
as  the  dead  leaves  and  rotten  branches  are  swept  from  the 
living  trees  by  the  tempest ;  while  those  whose  faith  is 
vital,  like  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  rocked  by  the  storm, 
clasping  with  their  roots  the  eternal  rock,  stand  firm  amidst 
the  fiercest  trials.  Brought  into  deepest  fellowship  with  the 
sufferings  of  their  Lord,  the  awful  power  of  his  resuiTec- 
tion  is  felt  all  through  the  spirit  dead  to  this  world,  mak- 
ing it  alive  to  the  world  to  come.  The  love,  the  faith,  the 
hope  of  the  Church  shine  at  no  time  with  so  unearthly  a 
light  as  in  the  hours  of  suffering  which  darken  her  history.* 
While  passing  through  such  trials,  the  people  of  Grod  work 
for  themselves  and  for  the  Church  in  after  times  a  lasting 
benediction.  Compacted  together,  deeply  rooted  in  Christ, 
purged  of  formalism,  animated  by  one  spirit,  they  emerge 
from  this  sea  of  terror  prepared  to  plant  the  standard  of  the 
cross  amidst  the  darkest  places  of  earth.  This  spirit,  this 
faith,  lives  on  in  the  Church.  She  is  but  one.  The  same  Kfe 
derived  from  Jesus  perjjetually  reveals  itself ;  all  the  past  of 
her  experience  helps  to  shape  and  mold  her  future.  These 
hours  of  suffering,  these  pyres  of  her  martyrs,  these  dragon- 
ades  and  Bartholomews,  are  to  her  what  the  Ked  Sea  and  the 
wilderness  with  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  flame  were  to  ancient 
Israel,  the  time  and  place  in  which  the  seed  of  after  tri- 
umphs were  planted. 

"  Flung  to  the  heedless  winds, 
Or  in  the  waters  cast, 
Their  ashes  shall  be  watchec 
And  gathered  at  the  last ; 


*  Says  Tertullian :  "  When  is  God  more  trusted  but  when  he  is  more  feared  7 
And  when  is  that  but  in  times  of  persecution  ?  The  Church  is  struck  With 
amazement.  Then  faith  is  more  anxious  in  its  undertakings  and  more  regular  in 
its  fasts,  and  watchings,  and  prayers,  and  humihty,  in  diligence,  ui  love,  in  holi- 
ness, and  in  sobriety." 


CONFLICT     AND     REST     IN     THE     CHURCH.      463 

And  from  that  scattered  dust 

Around  us  and  abroad, 
Shall  rise  a  plenteous  host 

Of  witnesses  for  God." 

I  have  spoken  tlms  far  of  the  influence  for  good  of  exter- 
nal trials.  But  there  is  one  result  of  the  internal  conflicts 
of  the  Church  of  inestimable  value.  I  refer  to  the  systematic 
development  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  It  is  an  un- 
questionable fact  that  the  controversies  which  have  arisen  in 
the  bosom  of  the  Church  itself,  in  respect  to  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  Christian  faith,  have  served  to  define  and  settle  these 
princi]3les  in  opposition  to  vital  error.  In  the  earliest  times, 
the  chief  conflicts  of  God's  people  were  with  Judaism,  pagan- 
ism, and  the  power  of  the  State.  The  writings  of  the  early 
fathers  are  mainly  apologetical.  But  when  quieter  times 
came,  philosophy  entered  and  sought  to  shape  Grod's  truth 
in  accordance  with  man's  thought.  Then  arose  conflicts 
which,  for  the  time,  shook  the  Church  to  its  center.  The 
old  and  loose  phraseology  of  the  fathers — a  merely  apologetic 
Christianity  in  opposition  to  heathenism — was  of  little  avail 
in  meeting  these  new  developments  of  speculative  mind  in 
the  Church.  Men  must  know  what  were  the  true  teachings 
of  the  Bible  on  these  mooted  points.  The  ancient  symbols 
were  bom  out  of  this  necessity.  Creeds  which  sciolists  scoif 
at  as  if  they  were  colored  spectacles  through  which  men  look 
at  the  sun,  have  given  a  definite,  a  compact  form  to  the  faith 
of  Christians — have  expressed  their  views  of  the  actual  teach- 
ings of  the  word,  and  so  they  have  guarded  the  inexperienced 
against  the  miserable  glosses  with  which  errorists  have  sought 
to  conceal  the  truth.  Controversy  has  given  us  the  noblest 
defenses  of  the  evangelical  doctrines.  There  is  not  one  of 
them  but  that  has  been  the  subject  of  a  fierce  battle ;  not  one. 
of  them  but  that  has  enlisted  the  stalwart  knights  of  the 
cross  to  rescue  it  from  the  perversions  of  the  sophist.  Nay, 
the  Bible  itself,  the  books  that  compose  it,  the  languages 
in  which  it  was  written,  the  inspiration  of  its  authors,  the 
meaning  of  their  words,  have  been  the  subject  of  violent  and 


464  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

protracted  discussion.  Its  noblest  defenses,  its  strongest 
bulwarks,  have  been  reared  in  troublous  times,  when,  hke  the 
builders  of  the  wall  of  Jerusalem  under  Nehemiah,  its  cham- 
pions were  obliged  to  carry  the  instruments  of  labor  in  one 
hand  and  of  w^ar  in  the  other.  It  is  a  common  law  of  this 
kingdom,  that  all  those  questions  which  respect  the  stones 
and  timbers  and  form  of  the  temple,  shall  be  settled,  not  by 
some  infalhble  earthly  dogmatist  farcically  enacting  its  Im- 
maculate Conceptions,  but  by  another  process  and  authority 
altogether,  by  the  consenting  testimony  of  God's  people  in 
different  climes  and  ages,  growing  up  under  the  keen  research, 
the  profound  longing  for  truth  of  the  intellects  and  hearts  of 
good  men.  Thus,  out  of  these  adventurous  explorations  on 
the  wide  and  often  wild  sea  of  thought,  lashed  at  times  into 
fury  by  the  winds  of  controversy,  there  has  sprung  into  view 
grand  continents  of  truth,  whose  lakes  and  rivers  and  moun- 
tains and  prairies  have  been  largely  ascertained  and  marked 
down  for  all  future  ages.  Thus  have  these  awakened  activi- 
ties of  human  thought,  stirred  by  the  forCe  of  conflict  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Church,  placed  her  in  a  position  intellectually 
and  morally  far,  far  in  advance  of  the  age  of  Origen,  or  Au- 
gustine, or  Luther.  Error  may  assume  new  shapes  in  future  ; 
but  the  Church  of  to-day  is  in  a  vastly  more  favorable  posi- 
tion to  meet  them  than  the  Church  of  yesterday.  Theology, 
as  a  science,  is  wrought  out  and  compacted  together  ;  it  has 
a  history  full  of  light,  life  and  power.  The  weapons  of  de- 
fense may  need  to  be  reforged  and  retempered  and  reshaped  ; 
the  bayonet  may  supplant  the  battle-ax — the  rifle  may  dis- 
possess the  spear  ;  but  the  arsenal  of  the  Church  is  full  of  the 
means  of  victory,  and  within  her  courts  are  leaders  trained  in 
the  spirit  of  past,  and  so  j)repared  for  future  conquests.  Yea, 
.even  when  these  inward  conflicts  have  resulted  in  divisions, 
the  consequences  have  not  been  wholly  disastrous.  At  times 
this  result  was  essential  to  the  purification  of  the  Church ; 
at  others  it  has  given  signal  vitality  and  prominence  to  some 
great  principle,  which  henceforth  remains  vindicated  and 
established  for  all  time.    Then,  again,  a  division  occasioned  by 


CONFLICT     AND     REST     IN     THE     C'lII/HCH.     465 

the  practical  assertion  of  important  truth  has  not  only  given 
strength  to  the  part  affirming,  but  has  imparted  to  that  truth 
a  vastly  increased  influence  over  the  part  denying  it.  The 
protest  at  Spires  not  only  gave  power  to  Protestantism  :  it 
made  it  certain  the  Romish  church  could  never  be  again, 
while  it  existed  alongside  of  the  Reformed  church,  what  it 
once  was.  No  Tetzels  shall  hereafter  be  seen  hawking  indul- 
gences in  sight  of  Protestant  steeples.  The  spirit  of  reform, 
in  spite  of  themselves,  will  modify  the  policy  of  her  ecclesias- 
tics, especially  in  those  lands  where  the  infallible  word  hath 
full  power  to  wrestle  with  the  infallible  priest.  The  exodus 
of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  not  only  developed  an  un- 
ceasing vitality  in  this  church  itself,  but  stimulated  to  a  more 
Christian  activity  that  from  which  they  came.  And  in  giv- 
ing such  a  signal  vindication  to  the  independence  of  the  spir- 
itual on  the  civil,  it  has  clothed  this  principle  with  an  energy 
that  in  time  will  work  out  still  grander  triumphs.  Similar 
examples  are  visible  nearer  home — ^within  our  own  church 
history.  Thus  the  Church  here  is  largely  militant ;  and  her 
conflicts  sometimes  weave  for  her  a  crown  of  glory. 

But  while  these  conflicts  at  times  work  together  for  good, 
yet  this  is  not  true  in  all  cases.  Sj)ringing  from  corruj^tion 
and  ignorance,  its  legitimate  results  are  only  evil.  Counter- 
acted by  the  spirit  and  providence  of  God,  it  is  often  made. 
as  we  have  seen,  the  means  of  blessing.  But,  for  purposes 
of  infinite  wisdom,  these  trials  of  the  Church  are  sometimes 
permitted  to  issue  disastrously  for  the  time.  The  advantages 
on  which  I  have  dwelt  have  each  their  counterpart  of  evil. 

1.  First,  persecution,  instead  of  promoting  the  immediate 
spread  of  true  religion,  not  unfrequently  greatly  retards  its 
progress,  and  within  certain  limits  sometimes  seems  to  crush 
out  all  vital  piety.  When  power  is  arrayed  against  Jesus, 
when  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  combine  to  dethrone  and  cru- 
cify him,  then  the  timid  shrink  back,  and  the  time-serving 
j,oin  hands  with  his  opposers.  In  the  minds  of  multitudes, 
authority  and  power  are  mightier  than  conscience.  Obloquy 
and  reproach,  the  prospect  of  losing  all  things,  and  the  fatal 

30 


466  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

end  of  an  adherence  to  the  gospel,  lead  many  to  compromise 
with  the  enemies  of  their  God.  ^'  Only  swear  by  the  genius 
of  Cfesar,"  says  the  proconsul  to  Poly  carp.  And  many  there 
are  in  every  age  who  can  not  withstand  this  appeal,  especially 
when  in  the  background  are  the  multitudes  of  Ceesar's  friends, 
and  before  them  the  dread  instruments  of  ruin.  So  when  the 
tide  of  popular  feeling  turned  at  the  restoration  of  Charles  II., 
what  a  host  of  apostates  swarmed  to  pay  their  homage  to  the 
lising  sun  !  What  a  dense  black  cloud  settled  on  the  Church 
t  >f  Grod  in  England  for  more  than  half  a  century  !  We  are  to 
take  with  no  small  abatement  the  celebrated  maxim,  "  The 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church."  IS^aturally 
this  is  not  so.  It  is  only  so  when  God  causes  good  to  sj)riug 
forth  out  of  evil.  Look  at  Spain  !  There  was  a  time  when 
the  truth  was  uttered  in  the  streets  of  Madrid  and  Cordova. 
There  came  a  time  when  the  inquisition  had  accomplished  its 
])loody  purposes — when,  from  the  Pyrenees  to  Gibraltar,  from 
the  Mediterranean  to  the  Atlantic,  no  man  for  centuries  dared 
avow  the  gospel  as  his  infallible  guide.  Was  it  not  so  in  Italy 
and  France  ?  Had  it  not  been  so  before  when  Huss  and  Je- 
rome suffered,  and  the  bones  of  dead  Wycliffe  were  exhumed, 
burnt  and  cast  into  the  Severn  ?  True,  indeed,  God  had  a 
great  purpose  to  accomplish  in  all  this.  He  meant  that  in 
these  glorious  lands  the  result  of  crushing  his  truth  should 
reveal  its  malignant  nature,  and  that  side  by.  side  with  Prot- 
(istantism,  this  great  apostacy  should  unfold  its  evil  genius — 
seen  to  be  more  evil  by  the  contrast.  He  meant  that,  when 
the  Philistines  had  captured  the  ark  of  God,  and  brought 
Israel  to  the  brink  of  ruin,  the  terrible  sufferings,  the  broken 
Dagons,  the  black  eclipse  of  faith,  the  baptisms  of  blood,  con- 
sequent on  the  sacrilege,  should  flame  forth  in  terror  like  an- 
other Sinai,  to  warn  the  oncoming  nations,  and  vindicate  his 
glorious  sovereignty.  The  time  will  come,  is  coming,  yea,  has 
already  come,  when  the  Truth,  long  crushed  to  earth,  shall  rise 
again  ;  the  time  will  come,  is  coming,  yea,  has  come,  when 
EiTor,  however  guarded  by  human  power,  and  consecrated  by 
the  forms  of  religion,  wounded  by  the  arrows  of  him  whose 


CONFLICT     AND     REST    IN     THE    CHURCH.         467 

mission  it  is  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,  writhes  in  pain 
and  dies  amidst  his  worshipers.  All  this  we  helieve,  we  know, 
we  rejoice  in  ;  yet  for  all  this  it  is  a  terrible  reality  that  these 
fair  kingdoms  have  been  so  long  despoiled  of  the  Word  of  Grod. 
It  is  a  terrible  thing,  a  fearful  reality,  that  the  Church  of 
Jesus  should  for  centuries  have  been  driven  forth  like  the 
woman  in  the  apocalyptical  vision  into  the  wilderness.  And 
BO  when  we  sing  our  pasans  of  victory,  and  rejoice  that  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  has  sometimes  been  the  seed  of  the 
Church,  let  us  not  forget  that  naturally  it  is  not  so  ;  that 
only  through  God's  special  benediction  is  it  ever  so  ;  that 
still  the  cry  ascends  from  beneath  the  altar — the  wail  of 
myriads  of  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for  the  Word  of 
God;  and  for  the  testimony  which  they  held.  "  How  long, 
0  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our 
blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  ?  And  white  robes 
were  given  unto  every  one  of  them,  and  it  was  said  unto  them 
that  they  should  rest  yet  for  a  little  season,  until  their  fellow- 
servants  and  also  tlieir  hrethren,  that  should  he  Jcilled  as  they 
were,  should  be  fulfilled."  Thus  for  a  time  hath  a  cloud 
rested  on  the  altar  of  religion  ;  and  the  blood  of  martyrs  and 
the  tears  of  confessors  have  wailed  in  sadness  for  the  quick- 
ening breath  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

2.  We  have  seen  the  happy  result  of  the  conflicts  of  the 
Church  in  the  clear  statement  and  vindication  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  But  in  this  resjject  also  the  benefits  have  not  been 
unmixed  with  evil.  The  same  influences  which,  at  length, 
have  set  forth  the  truth  in  its  fullness,  have  often  during  the 
progress  of  the  Church  to  this  high  position,  served  to  distort 
and  unduly  magnify  partial  truths.  Controversy  tends  to  pro- 
duce an  exaggerated  estimate,  and  also  an  exaggerated  state- 
ment of  the  truth.  It  is  perfectly  natural  that  where,  fi'om 
the  circumstances  of  the  Church,  the  experience  of  Christians 
is  made  to  circle  largely  round  one  or  two  points,  that  these 
should  be  unduly  magnified  to  the  injury  of  others  of  equal 
imi)ortance.  In  times  of  j)ersecution,  it  is  natural  that  the 
idea  of  suffering  for  Jesus  should  be  exalted  into  a  grand  doc- 


OCCASIONAL     SEEMONS. 

trine,  the  sum  and  perfection  of  Christian  life.  The  early- 
Church,  exposed  to  the  fiercest  trial  (often  called  to  bear  the 
cross  of  her  Lord  in  all  its  terrible  reality,  witnessing  the  tri- 
umphant attestation  of  her  holy  aj^ostles,  her  godly  pastors, 
her  gentle  and  lovely  members,  as  they  wore  the  cross  of  mar- 
tyrdom), dwelt  so  much  on  the  necessity  of  suffering  for  Jesus 
that  the  other  Christian  vh'tues  sunk  into  insignificance  beside 
it.  They  aspired  to  this  crown.  They  made  it  often  their 
chiefest  glory,  not  so  much  to  fill  up  life  with  the  quiet  daily 
duties  which  spring  from  the  humble,  loving  and  believing 
heart,  as  to  brave  unmoved  the  shouts  of  the  arena  and  the 
bloody  assaults  of  beasts  of  prey.  To  suffer  was  to  obey.  Men 
went  forth  under  the  same  influence  into  voluntary  exile  from 
human  society.  They  filled  the  deserts  with  their  songs  of 
praise.  They  dwelt  in  caves  and  dens  of  the  earth — ascended 
pillars — plied  the  scourge,  and  sought  by  torture  and  death  to 
complete  their  fellowship  with  the  sufferings  of  their  Lord. 
That  wliich  should  have  been  a  final  necessity  was  erected 
into  the  chief  end  of  a  Christian  life.  Suffering  for  Christ,  in- 
stead of  being  accepted  when  sent  by  God  as  a  discipline,  was 
coveted,  was  sought  after,  was  created,  as  if  it  were  itself  a 
means  of  grace  to  be  elected  by  the  will  of  man. 

And  if  this  distortion  of  truth  is  sometimes  the  result  of 
outward  conflict,  the  same  thing  is  equally  manifest  in  the 
controversies  which  have  sprung  up  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Church.  It  belongs  to  our  nature  that  as  a  doctrine  of  our 
faith  is  disputed,  the  feelings  gather  round  it,  the  enthusiasm 
kindles  over  it,  the  mind  concentrates  itself  upon  it,  until  it 
stands  forth  enlarged  and  colored  with  our  prejudices,  magni- 
fied through  them  into  a  disproportionate  greatness.  Few 
minds  are  large  enough  or  so  well  balanced  as  in  the  heat  of 
controversy  to  hold  all  the  truths  of  a  system  in  their  just 
estimation.  The  point  where  the  battle  rages  is  for  the  time 
the  articulus  stantis  et  cadentis  ecdesice.  That  point  may  be 
a  vital  truth,  it  may  be  the  philosophy  of  a  fact,  it  may  be  a 
mere  human  explanation  of  a  divine  truth  or  of  its  relation  to 
other  truths,  or  it  may  be  something  which  after  the  heat  of 


CONFLICT     AND     REST    IN    THE    CHURCH.      469 

the  conflict  is  over  is  seen  to  be  wholly  unessential  to  the 
vitality  of  the  Church,  or  the  completeness  of  her  faith.  But 
if  it  is  made  the  point  of  discussion,  it  swells  in  the  view  of 
the  disputants  to  gigantic  proportions. 

Athanasius  and  his  co-workers  in  the  great  controversy 
respecting  the  nature  of  Christ,  often  approached  as  near  to 
tri-theism  as  to  tri-unity.  Augustine,  whose  genius  towers 
up  in  the  past  like  the  j)yramid  of  Cheops  over  Egypt,  gives 
us  at  times  such  statements  of  fallen  humanity  as  virtually 
annihilates  our  distinctive  moral  manhood.  Luther,  in  his 
tremendous  vindication  of  justification  by  faith,  uses  language 
that  legitimately  stamps  all  good  works  with  the  signet  of 
Satan.  Nor  is  this  exaggeration  of  statement  the  only  evil. 
The  exaggerated  estimate  of  the  importance  of  minor  truths 
and  practices  is  equally  evil.  Controversy  takes  up,  not  usu- 
ally the  whole  range  of  Christian  truth,  but  now  one  and  then 
another  doctrine  or  application  of  doctrine  to  the  life.  Few 
controversies  last  over  a  score  of  years.  But  while  it  lasts, 
the  point  in  dispute  becomes  the  central  pillar  of  the  whole 
temple  of  religion.  At  one  time  the  form  of  a  baptism  enlists 
all  the  acumen  and  intellect  of  the  ecclesiastical  Samsons.  At 
another,  mediate  and  immediate  imputation  of  the  sin  of  Adam 
— at  another,  the  philosophy  and  extent  of  the  atonement,  the 
irresistibleness  of  the  Spirit  in  regeneration,  the  nature  and 
effect  of  election,  inability  and  free  agency,  and  thus  ranging 
down  from  lofty  to  minute,  a  man's  salvation  has  been  made 
to  depend  on  whether  or  no  an  infant  sinned  with  its  first 
breath,  and  the  whole  orthodoxy  of  the  Church,  like  a  pyra- 
mid balanced  on  its  apex,  is  made  to  rest  on  an  infinitesimal 
quantity,  rather  than  on  the  broad  facts  of  God's  revelation. 
Thus  the  really  distinctive  and  essential  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  thrust  aside,  and  faith  becomes  not  a  childlike  embracing 
him  in  his  great  offices,  but  a  poAver  of  philosophical  discrim- 
ination, a  capacity  to  hold  in  the  intellect  the  hard,  abstract, 
extreme  dogmas  of  the  schoolmen  of  the  time,  but  which  as 
men  in  the  mass  are  not  moral  ostriches,  the  body  of  the 
Chiu-cli,  after  manifold,  ineffectual  trials,  rej)udiates  as  be- 


470  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

yond  tlie  power  of  digestion.  Thus,  for  a  time,  the  just  and 
well-proportioned  deliverance  of  the  truth  itself,  is  often  prej- 
udiced and  kept  back  by  the  very  conflicts  which  the  advance 
of  error  has  necessitated. 

3.  We  have  seen  how  outward  trials  tend  to  deepen  the 
experience  and  jjurify  the  hearts  of  the  peoj^le  of  God.  But 
we  can  not  affirm  this  of  all  kinds  of  conflict.  Internal  con- 
troversy hath  usually  an  opposite  influence.  When  at  peace 
within  itself,  the  Church  may  be  in  conflict  with  all  around 
it  and  grow  stronger  and  purer  ;  when  at  strife  within,  though 
it  should  be  at  rest  in  respect  to  external  opposition,  it  nour- 
ishes an  element  of  weakness.  Controversies  in  the  Church 
tend  to  create  a  spirit  which,  imagining  that  the  triumph  of 
a  party  is  the  triumph  of  truth,  aims  rather  at  the  possession 
of  power  and  the  demonstration  of  a  personal  victory,  than 
at  the  spread  of  the  truth.  A  large  proportion  of  those  con- 
troversies which  have  distracted  the  disciples  of  Jesus  and 
turned  their  minds  oif  from  their  quiet  work  to  a  mere  inci- 
dental, a  minor,  and  sometimes  a  doubtful  good,  have  sprung 
from  jjersonal  feelings  ;  and  when  once  the  strife  has  com- 
menced, so  imperfect  are  we  that,  almost  unconsciously  to 
ourselves,  personal  feeling  is  widely  enlisted  ;  local  and  then 
mere  party  interests  supplant  the  simple  desire  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  pure  religion  ;  we  take  our  position  ;  we  mag- 
nify whatever  seems  to  favor  it,  we  depreciate  whatever  is 
opposed  to  it ;  we  clothe  ourselves  at  length  with  the  divine 
prerogative  of  judgment,  and  impute  sin  as  well  as  error  to 
every  one  who  can  not  pronounce  our  "  Shibboleth."  At  such 
times  this  evil  tendency  of  our  imperfect  nature  is  aggravated 
by  the  fact  that  men,  highly  gifted  in  the  lower,  the  pugna- 
cious instincts,  and  not  always  as  highly  endowed  with  the 
wisdom,  the  pure,  the  peaceful,  that  cometh  from  above,  seize 
the  reins  and  say,  "  Come,  see  my  zeal  for  the  Lord."  These 
are  the  things  which  create  controversy,  which  turn  fraternal 
discussion  into  a  strife  of  parties,  which  destroy  the  direct 
influence  of  truth  by  sheathing  it  in  personal  prejudices  and 
passions.     In  the  early  period  of  the  Reformation  the  tiuth 


CONFLICT     AND    REST     IN     THE    CHURCH.      471 

went  from  land  to  land  in  its  own  naked  simplicity  ;  it  was 
the  calm,  direct,  immediate  voice  of  God  speaking  to  the  con- 
science. It  was  a  hand  to  hand  wrestle  of  truth  with  error  ; 
and  the  truth  triumphed.  But  no  sooner  had  the  lines  of 
party  heen  drawn,  and  organization  created  for  the  defense 
of  those  arrayed  against  the  authority  of  Rome  ;  no  sooner 
did  it  become  a  conflict  of  parties,  partly  religious,  partly 
political ;  especially  when  the  Reformers  themselves  divided 
oif  in  that  fierce  and  bitter  controversy,  De  Ccena,  which 
separated  permanently  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed,  than  the 
individual  conflict  largely  ceased.  To  millions  the  doctrines 
which  had  been  the  truth  of  God,  now  became  the  mere  dog- 
mas of  a  sect,  against  which  they  were  armed  by  the  native 
antagonism  of  their  churchly  and  political  pride  and  preju- 
dice. Conversions  ceased,  and  that  great  reaction  came  which 
rolled  again  the  salt  sea  of  error  over  many  a  fair  field,  once 
almost  entirely  reclaimed  to  Christ.  And  never  will  that 
Reformation  be  completed  and  its  gi'andest  triumph  won, 
until,  not  as  Protestants,  not  as  politicians,  not  as  partisans, 
but  as  sinners  redeemed  with  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  bearing 
his  pure  gospel  of  peace,  we  set  ourselves  down  man  by  man 
with  those  wanderers,  and  cau&e  the  truth  in  its  naked  force 
to  grapple  with  their  souls.  Thus  hath  controversy,  rousing 
the  antagonistical  forces,  creating  prejudice,  and  quickening 
feelings  that  disarm  our  spiritual  discernment,  set  up  mighty 
barriers,  within  which  error  has  entrenched  itself,  and  dividing 
the  Church  on  unessential  and  often  trivial  points,  exposed 
her  naked  and  weak  to  the  scorn  of  her  enemies. 

Such  are  some  of  the  evils  of  conflict  which  we  are  to  set 
off  against  the  good  it  has  produced. 

Let  us  now  consider  briefly  the  condition  of  the  Church 
as  at  rest.  I  need  not  say  that  while  in  our  imperfect  state 
this  is  not  the  natural,  yet  it  is  the  higher  and  more  favored 
position  of  the  people  of  God.  As  in  Christian  experience 
true  peace  is  not  only  a  rich  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  but  the  point 
of  confluence  to  which  all  the  other  graces  tend,  so  in  the 
Church  a  high  state  of  spiritual  prosperity  is  ever  distinguislied 


472  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

as  one  of  rest.  "  Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem;  they  shall 
prosper  that  love  thee,"  is  the  sentiment  that  gushes  from 
the  Christian  heart.  "  Speak  ye  comfortably  to  Jerusalem, 
and  cry  unto  her  that  her  warfare  is  accomplished,  that  her 
iniquity  is  pardoned,  for  she  hath  received  of  the  Lord's  hand 
double  for  all  her  sins,"  is  the  description  of  that  state  of 
rest  into  which  the  Church  passes  from  a  state  of  conflict. 

1.  One  of  the  first  things  most  obvious  in  such  a  state  is 
its  harmony  with  the  most  complete  growth  of  a  religious 
character.  In  a  state  of  conflict  the  whole  stress  of  the  Chris- 
tian life  is  thrown  upon  one  or  two  points.  The  antagonistic, 
courageous  feelings  are  fully  developed.  But  these  are  not 
the  most  lovely,  nor,  in  respect  to  the  entire  life  of  man,  the 
most  desirable.  The  gentler,  quieter  virtues,  among  which  love 
reigns  as  queen,  grow  more  vigorously  under  the  culture  of  rest. 
The  whole  chcuit  of  duties  in  a  state  of  j)eace  is  necessary 
to  the  fullest  and  richest  development  of  the  life  of  Christ  in 
the  soul.  Then  not  one  or  two  promises,  but  the  entire  body 
of  them  successively  address  themselves  to  us  in  the  various 
relations  of  life.  Temptations  mixed  and  varied  try  the  re- 
ality of  our  Chi-istian  principle.  We  search  the  Scripture 
for  guidance  in  all  things.  There  is  oj^portunity  for  a  deeper 
and  fuller  study  of  it  in  all  its  parts,  and  an  application  of 
the  truth,  wider  and  more  varied,  to  the  wants  of  the  soul, 
than  belonsj  to  the  state  of  conflict.  And  hence  this  condition 
of  rest  is  associated  in  Scripture  with  the  freest,  noblest  de- 
velopments of  religion  in  the  head  and  life  of  the  Church. 
The  images  which  designate  such  a  state  are  most  frequently 
those  of  quietness  and  peace.  The  growing  child  of  God  is 
''  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water,  that  bringeth 
forth  his  fruit  in  his  season."  "  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I 
shall  not  want;  he  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures  ; 
he  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters.  Thou  prejjarest  a  table 
before  me  in  the  presence  of  mine  enemies."  When  the  fu- 
ture glory  of  the  Church  is  unfolded  in  the  wonderful  seventy- 
second  Psalm,  it  is  declared  that  there  shall  be  "  abundance 
!jf  peace  so  long  as  the  moon  endureth."     The  vast  majority 


CONFLICT    AND    REST    IN     THE     CHJPwCH.         473 

of  tlie  Messianic  prophecies  are  characterized  by  the  promi- 
nence they  give  to  the  outward  prosperity  of  the  Church  as 
an  index  of  her  inward  state,  and  as  in  harmony  with  the 
more  perfect  development  of  the  Christian  life  belonging  to 
those  times.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  descriptions  of  this 
quiet  growth  of  the  Church  and  her  outward  condition  is 
given  by  Hosea.  When  God  turns  away  his  anger  from  Is- 
rael, and  heals  their  backslidings,  then  he  says,  "  I  will  be  as 
the  dew  unto  Israel ;  he  shall  grow  as  the  lily,  and  cast  forth 
his  roots  as  Lebanon.  His  branches  shall  spread,  and  liis 
beauty  shall  be  as  the  ohve  tree,  and  his  smell  as  Lebanon. 
They  that  dwell  under  his  shadow  shall  return  ;  they  shall 
revive  as  the  corn,  and  grow  as  the  vine  ;  the  scent  shall  be  as 
the  wine  of  Lebanon."  Could  any  thing  more  beautifully 
describe  that  state  of  peace  and  spiritual  growth  in  the 
Church  which  fills  out  most  completely  the  ideal  of  a  religious 
life  ?  The  gentle  dew,  the  quiet,  lowly  lily,  sjninging  up  in 
the  valleys,  the  roots  of  the  cedar  grasping  strongly  the  rock, 
the  beautiful  and  fruitful  olive  tree,  the  growing  corn,  the 
aroma  of  the  cedar  and  the  wine  of  Lebanon,  describe  to  us 
the  sweet  influence  of  divine  grace  upon  the  Church,  and 
the  varied,  rich  and  beautiful  life,  under  it,  she  reveals  to  the 
world.  Thus  is  a  state  of  peace  favorable  to  the  complete- 
ness of  the  Christian  character. 

2.  In  this  state  of  rest  the  Church  is  best  able  to  carry 
forward  a  system  of  thorough  culture,  and  organize  those 
forces  which  are  necessary  to  her  fullest  development.  For 
the  Church  is  not  an  aggregation  of  loose  materials,  but  in 
its  best  state  an  organic  existence,  embracing  within  itself 
the  means  of  growth  and  prosperity.  She  forms  herself  into 
various  societies,  and  establishes  for  them  a  regular  system  of 
spiritual  culture.  She  builds  churches  within  which  to  wor- 
ship ;  organizes  the  means  of  instruction  for  the  young  ;  edu- 
cates her  ministry;  and  combines  individual  societies  into  such 
forms  as  will  best  subserve  the  preservation  of  her  purity,  the 
elevation  of  her  memberM,  and  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  Now 
this  fjreat  work  of  self-orsanization  and  self-culture,  looking; 


474  OCCASIONAL    SERMONS. 

as  it  does,  first,  to  the  consolidation  and  perpetuation  of  the 
Church  tlirough  her  own  children,  and  second  to  her  increase 
by  additions  from  without,  is  a  work  which  a  condition  of 
rest  greatly  facilitates.  When  intent  on  her  own  preservation 
from  the  assaults  of  ojjposers,  or  when  wrestling  with  internal 
foes,  this  great  work  advances  slowly.  Had  not  the  days  of 
fierce  trial  been  intermitted  or  shortened,  she  herself  had  hardly 
survived  a  single  generation.  Where  men  are  intent  on  guard- 
ing their  dwellings  against  a  secret  or  an  open  foe,  it  is  diffi- 
cult if  not  impossible  for  them  to  cultivate  the  gTound  or 
establish  schools  and  build  churches.  The  Declaration  of 
Independence  befitted  a  state  of  war,  but  the  framing  of 
the  Constitution,  and  the  full  inauguration  of  our  national 
republic,  was  the  work  of  peace.  David  was  a  warrior  king, 
and  won  the  stronghold  of  Salem  ;  but  it  was  committed  to 
Solomon,  during  a  reign  of  peace,  to  rear  the  temple  on  Mo- 
riah.  Calvin  could  find  no  rest  in  his  native  France;  but  God 
prepared  Geneva  for  liis  home.  And  there,  within  the  walls 
of  that  young  republic,  secure  alike  from  the  rage  of  Francis, 
Charles,  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  beneath  the  awful  shadow 
of  Jura,  beside  the  quiet  waters  of  Lake  Leman,  he  framed 
and  established  that  ecclesiastical  poKty,  which,  restoring  the 
early  form  of  the  house  of  God,  has  served  as  the  pattern  for 
so  large  a  portion  of  the  Keformed  chm'ches  ;  he  planted  that 
university  which  sent  forth  a  ministry  to  Scotland  and  Swit- 
zerland, and  France  and  Holland  ;  he  instituted  that  simple, 
spiritual  culture  which  has  prevailed  so  largely  and  succeeded 
so  admirably  in  nurturing  generations  of  Christians  in  the  faith 
and  love  of  Jesus.  So  in  the  times  of  Elizabeth  and  James, 
despite  the  bigotry  of  the  latter  and  the  prudery  of  the  for- 
mer, the  word  of  God  had  found  a  home  in  England.  Had 
peace  continued,  that  leaven  might  have  leavened  the  whole 
lump,  and  in  time  the  simple  institutions  of  Puritan  Christi- 
anity have  grown  up  into  full  vigor  on  British  soil.  But  the 
time  of  conflict  came.  The  Puritan  exiled  from  Scotland, 
from  England,  from  Holland,  from  France,  here  found  an- 
other home.     Here,  in  peace,  he  planted  his  religious  institu- 


CONFLICT    AND     REST     IN     THE    CHURCH.         475 

tions.  He  joined  the  culture  of  the  intellect  and  the  heart. 
The  Church,  divided  indeed  somewhat  in  outward  form,  yet 
in  substance  has  developed  itself  along  the  line  of  these  its 
chosen  institutions,  until  the  handful  of  corn  climbed  the 
very  mountain  tops  and  shook  them  like  Lebanon.  These 
glorious  institutions,  this  high  and  pure  culture  of  the  soul 
within  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  this  faithful  breaking  up  of 
the  soil  and  sowing  the  seed  of  heavenly  truth,  and  careful 
tending  of  the  plants  of  righteousness  as  they  spring  up,  are 
the  achievements  of  a  stace  of  peace. 

3,  In  this  state  of  rest  the  Church  is  best  prepared  to  carry 
forward  the  work  of  the  gospel  out  of  herself,  and  the  world 
is  in  the  best  state  to  hear  the  truth.  Thus,  free  from  the 
necessity  of  concentrating  her  energies  on  herself,  she  can 
quietly  put  in  motion  all  the  enginery  of  Christianity  for  the 
great  conquest.  The  rivalries,  the  jealousies,  the  wranglings 
which  always  attend  an  internal  conflict,  now  distract  and 
enfeeble  her  no  more.  She  recognizes  her  great  mission  ;  she 
feels  the  impulse  of  love  for  souls  ;  she  organizes  and  sends 
forth  her  soldiers  to  this  campaign  of  peace  ;  she  preachea, 
she  instructs,  she  prints  and  scatters  abroad  the  Word  in 
every  language.  Divinely  moved,  she  enters  the  wide  open 
portals  and  seeks  to  plant  the  white  standard  of  the  cross  in 
the  heart  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  this  world. 

Now,  too,  she  finds  all  things  ready  for  her  coming.  The 
barriers  Avhich  frowned  lier  back  have  fallen.  The  influences 
which,  in  a  state  of  conflict,  vastly  aggravated  the  native  hos- 
tiUty  of  the  heart  to  the  gospel,  and  often  rendered  it  impos- 
sible to  obtain  even  a  hearing,  are  withdrawn.  At  home  and 
abroad  she  enters  where  she  pleases  and  preaches  to  whom 
she  may  the  tidings  of  peace.  Then  it  is,  converts  are  multi- 
plied ;  then  churches  spring  into  existence  beside  the  temples 
of  Mammon  and  Baal,  and  the  hand  of  Jesus  pushes  these 
gods  of  earth  from  their  usurped  seats.  All  the  great  revivals 
of  religion,  all  those  wonderful  transformations  which  have 
formed  eras  in  the  progress  of  the  religion  of  Jesus,  have  oc- 
cuiTed  when  the  Church  was  at  rest,  and  when  the  minds  of 


476  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

men  have  been  delivered  from  those  agitations  which  are  in- 
cident to  conflict  or  which  are  like  unto  it.  It  was  so  with 
the  great  awakening  of  the  last  century  in  Great  Britain  and 
the  Unit.xl  States.  It  was  so  with  the  great  revival  which 
opened  this  century.  It  was  so  with  that  which  spread  over 
the  land  thirty  years  ago.  It  is  so  with  that  which  is  now 
moving  around  us  in  such  a  wave  of  redeeming  love  and  peace. 
It  was  so  with  the  great  reformation  in  Turkey.  It  has  been 
so  in  almost  every  instance  w^here  the  Church  of  God  has  been 
either  revived  at  home  or  has  gone  forth  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  distant  nations.  A  state  of  quietness,  of  rest  from  great 
worldly  agitations  and  disturbing  conflicts  and  intense  earthly 
excitements,  has  almost  uniformly  attended  the  mighty  mani- 
festations of  the  converting  power  of  God,  and  the  grandest 
efforts  of  the  Church  for  the  salvation  of  men.  And  just  as 
in  a  lull  of  the  storm  after  the  crucifixion,  the  firet  great  re- 
vival commenced  which  inaugurated  the  Christian  Church  ; 
just  as,  subsequently,  when  the  Church  had  rest,  multitudes 
were  added  unto  her,  so  now  it  is  mainly  in  the  same  con- 
dition that  the  same  glorious  results  have  been  and  are 
brought  forth. 

But  while  a  state  of  rest  hath  in  it  so  much  of  good  to 
the  Church,  we  are  not  to  forget  that  it  hath  also  its  dangers. 
"  Silence,"  says  one,  "  is  divine."  But  with  equal  truth  an- 
other has  said  that  if  "  victory  is  silent,  so  is  defeat."  While 
on  the  one  hand  a  state  of  rest  may  afford  to  the  Church  an 
opportunity  for  the  silent  working  of  those  forces  which  are 
to  gain  the  victory,  yet,  if  long  continued,  it  may  also  afford 
the  opportunity  for  inferior  and  evil  forces,  springing  from 
our  corruption,  to  work  out  her  defeat.  Behold  !  how  in  the 
106th  and  107th  Psalms  the  experience  of  Israel  in  prosperity, 
as  well  as  in  adversity,  is  described  as  a  warning  to  us  who 
dwell  in  this  last  dispensation.  To-day,  in  their  terror,  the 
sword  of  Pharaoh  flashing  in  their  rear,  they  cry  to  Jehovah 
for  deliverance.  To-morrow,  when  the  danger  is  past  and 
the  sky  is  bright,  circling  round  their  golden  calf,  they  cry, 
"  These  be  thy  gods,  0  Israel." 


CONFLICT     AND     REST     IN      THE     CHURCH.      477 

1.  In  this  stat€  of  outward  prosperity,  you  will  notice, 
among  other  things,  a  secret  influence  hostile  to  a  lofty,  a 
vigorous  faith.  Faith  hath  this  peculiarity,  that  as  it  is  the 
vision  and  the  grasping  of  the  unseen  and  eternal,  so  it  needs 
to  be  often  shaken  loose  from  the  associations  of  things  seen 
and  temporal,  and  brought  into  direct  (face  to  face  and  hand 
to  hand)  communion  with  its  great  objects.  It  must  often 
feel  itself  sinking  in  the  waters  in  order  to  quicken  its  grasp 
upon  the  Saviour.  Earthly  trials  rouse  the  soul  to  look  up- 
ward. Repose,  especially  when  long  continued,  gives  fearful 
vividness  and  power  to  the  things  of  sense.  The  eye  of  faith 
grows  dim  ;  the  hand  of  faith  grows  weak.  It  loses  much  of 
its  uplifting,  soul-transforming  energy.  The  celestial  glories 
fade  as  the  earthly  glory  brightens.  David  in  the  noontide 
splendor  of  his  kingly  state  is  blinded  by  the  attractions  of 
sense  to  the  beauties  of  holiness.  David,  stricken  of  God, 
beholds  again  the  awful  glory  of  the  upper  sanctuary,  and 
comes  a  penitent  sinner  to  the  throne  of  grace.  The  soul 
that  would  exercise  a  quick,  mighty  faith,  must  needs  often 
feel  the  brink  of  hell,  on  which  the  sinner  stands,  crumbling 
beneath  it ;  must  often  see  the  ladder  planted  by  Jesus,  down 
which  angels  come  to  minister,  and  up  which  the  ransomed 
pass  to  glory.  The  things  which  shock  and  shatter  the  world, 
condense  and  inspire  the  vigor  of  faith.  The  brilliancy  that 
charms,  the  ease  that  delights,  the  attractions  that  seduce  the 
heart  filled  with  the  sensible,  are  hostile  to  that  spiritual  life 
which  draws  its  whole  strength  from  the  world  to  come. 
And  so  it  has  happened  that  the  ages  of  heroic  faith  have 
been  ages  of  trial.  The  times  of  suftering  have  developed  an 
unheard  of  manhood  in  the  Church,  while  the  times  of  peace 
have  dwarfed  the  proportions  and  withered  the  energy  of  the 
Christian  soldier.  It  is  wonderful  to  read  in  the  11th  of  He- 
brews how  the  faith  of  the  leaders  of  the  elect  host  has  grown 
to  greatness  amidst  the  furnace  of  trial  rather  than  in  the 
smooth  and  open  path  of  rest. 

2.  Directly  connected  with  this,  you  are  to  consider  how 
strong  is  the  tendency  in  a  time  of  peace  to  a  self-indulgence 


478  OCCASIONAL     SEEMONS. 

in  matters  of  religion,  and  a  surprising  activity  in  matters  of 
worldly  interest.  We  love  not  self-denial.  It  crosses  the 
bent  of  our  earthly  nature  ;  nay,  it  is  the  mortification  unto 
death  of  that  natui-e.  Only  as  we  look  calmly,  clearly,  stead- 
ily at  the  vast  interests  at  stake  ;  only  as,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  motives  di-awn  from  the  eternal  world,  we  gird  our- 
selves for  the  work,  do  we  take  up  om'  cross  daily  and  follow 
Jesus.  Yet,  does  this  self-denial,  this  breaking  down  of  our 
wills,  this  abnegation  of  self,  enter  vitally  into  the  progress 
of  the  Church,  as  advancing  heavenwai'd  herself,  or  as  effect- 
ive in  winning  souls  to  her  ranks. 

Now,  when  she  is  in  repose,  when  she  is  on  the  flood- tide 
of  worldly  prosperity,  when  her  enemies  are  at  peace  with 
her  and  cast  round  her  their  blandishments,  then  is  the  time 
of  danger.  Influences  wonderfully  seductive  lay  her  vigilance 
asleep  ;  influences  all  in  harmony  with  her  earthly  nature, 
silent,  masked,  penetrating,  soothe  her  conscience,  change  the 
aspect  of  duty,  drug  and  stupefy  into  inaction  the  immortal 
energies  of  her  sj)irit. 

And  if  with  this  you  conjoin  an  overmastering  activity  in 
secular  avocations,  an  enterprise  that  burns  along  the  paths 
of  this  world  ;  a  surprising  development  of  mind  in  pm^suits 
that  lead  only  to  earthly  aggrandizement — an  activity,  an  en-, 
terprise,  a  development  just  such  as  prosperity  and  peace 
tend  to  create,  then  you  need  be  at  no  loss  to  understand 
how  silence  is  often  fruitful  in  defeat  as  well  as  victory  ;  how 
your  sons,  despising  a  self-denying  ministry,  rush  headlong 
into  the  vast  game  of  worldly  chances,  preferring  the  prizes 
and  the  pleasures  of  this  life  to  shining  as  stars  in  the  fij-ma- 
ment  of  Grod  for  ever  ;  how  even  men  ordained  to  preach  the 
gospel,  consecrated  as  ambassadors  of  Christ,  with  the  apos- 
tolic "  woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gosj^el,"  ringing  in  their 
ears,  can  content  themselves  with  an  occasional,  a  cold,  per- 
functory proclamation  of  the  ti'uth,  aye,  may  even  make  the 
ministiy  a  stalking  horse  to  worldly  j)referment,  or  a  supple- 
ment to  a  secular  avocation.  These  are  part  of  the  dangers 
which  beset  the  Church  in  the  time  of  peace. 


CONFLICT     AND     REST     IN    THE     CHURCH.         479 

Nor  are  these  the  only  dangers  of  peace.  Hand  in  hand 
with  this  spirit  of  self-indulgence  and  worldly  activity,  there 
grows  up  a  looseness  of  practice  and  a  looseness  of  belief. 
The  spirit  of  the  world  seeks  to  enter  and  take  possession  of 
the  house  of  God.  There  is  a  gradual  lowering  down  of  the 
tone  of  piety,  and  a  reducing  to  the  minimum  the  difference 
between  the  outward  life  of  believers  and  unbeKevers.  The 
old  standards  of  holiness,  the  old  tests  of  a  life  of  faith,  are 
one  by  one  laid  aside.  There  is  a  debasement  of  Christian 
practice  and  an  exaltation  of  church  forms.  The  one  has  lost 
all  sympathy  with  lowliness,  contrition,  self-abnegation,  love, 
and  non-conformity  to  the  world  ;  the  other  has  risen  into 
full  sympathy  with  the  splendor  and  excitements  and  pas- 
sions of  eartlily  greatness.  We  have,  then,  as  John  Howe 
says,  "  golden  chalices  and  wooden  priests  ;  the  Church  a 
glorious  sepulchre,  splendid  without,  but  full  of  rottenness 
and  corruption  within." 

And  along  with  this  degeneracy  in  the  life  of  the  Church, 
there  creeps  in  the  slimy  serpents  of  error.  One  by  one  the 
vital  doctrines  of  the  cross  are  dropped  out  of  the  pulpit  and 
out  of  the  heart.  The  dogmas  of  a  pure  faith,  enshrined  in 
confessions  and  liturgies,  like  flies  in  amber,  have  no  response 
and  no  vitality  in  the  experience  of  the  people.  While  the 
very  Word  of  God,  subject  to  the  same  degradation,  is  used 
as  a  form,  juggled  with  as  an  enigma,  and  at  length  cast 
down  as  an  impostor. 

These  are  not  imaginary  dangers  of  a  season  of  rest.  That 
very  reign  of  Solomon,  which  raised  the  worship  of  the  sanc- 
tuary to  the  highest  pitch  of  splendor,  prepared  the  w^ay  for 
the  dismemberment  of  the  kingdom  and  the  horrible  idolatries 
of  succeeding  princes.  The  event  which  enthroned  Chris- 
tianity in  the  Eoman  empire  ushered  in  the  influence  under 
which  gi-ew  up  the  fearful  apostacy.  Moderatism  in  Scot- 
land ;  the  cotemporary  degeneracy  of  the  English  church  ; 
the  abandonment  of  the  Christian  faith  in  Germany,  and  by 
a  large  portion  of  the  New  England  churches,  grew  up  in  the 
silence  of  peace.     And  thus,  even  that  peaceful  condition, 


480  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

whicli  is  described  in  Scripture  under  so  many  happy  images, 
which  is  recognized  as  rich  with  the  blessing  of  God,  hath  its 
own  dangers,  dangers  often  as  fatal  as  those  of  conflict. 

We  have  now  traced  out,  very  imjDerfectly,  it  is  true,  the 
natural  working  of  this  law  of  conflict  and  rest  in  the  Church 
of  Christ.  We  have  seen  how  conflicts  that  threatened  her 
destruction  have  within  certain  limits  contributed  to  her  in- 
crease ;  we  have  seen  conditions  of  rest,  seemingly  the  most 
favorable,  and  for  a  time  actually  promoting  her  edification, 
when  continued  for  a  length  of  time,  develop  in  her  bosom  the 
seed  of  ruin.  What  then  is  the  great  conclusion  .^  Is  it  that 
the  Church  is  absolutely  dependent  upon  these  alternations 
of  conflict  and  rest  in  order  to  maintain  her  reign  and  enlarge 
her  bounds  ?  Doubtless  God  will  use  theee  influences,  just 
as  he  will  use  literature,  commerce  and  civil  governments,  to 
work  out  his  great  purposes  in  this  world.  And  for  a  time 
he  may  see  it  needful  to  subject  his  people  to  such  variable 
conditions.  But  at  best  they  are  only  natural  influences, 
which  may  work  mischief  as  well  as  good,  and  which  in  them- 
selves are  wholly  inadequate  to  build  up  the  house  of  God. 

No  !  we  must  look  to  another  influence.  We  are  brought 
to  recognize  directly  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the 
mighty  animating  power,  the  true  source  of  life  within  the 
Church.  It  was  only  when  the  disciples  walked  in  the  fear 
of  the  Lord  and  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  the  rest 
they  enjoyed  contributed  to  their  edification  and  increase. 
The  Church  naturally,  despite  her  new-born  nature,  her  holy 
principles,  her  divine  light,  left  to  herself  would  lapse  into 
error,  would  fall  into  sin,  would  perish  utterly  from  the  earth. 
Those  intermitting  states  of  conflict  and  repose  might  be  con- 
ditions precedent  to  her  progress  at  certain  stages  of  her 
growth,  but  of  themselves  they  would  no  more  secure  that 
growth,  than  the  alternations  of  wind  and  calm  without  the 
rain  and  the  sunshine  would  make  the  corn  rise  to  fruitful- 
ness.  It  is  the  Spirit  of  God  which  must  descend  upon  her, 
work  in  her,  and  overrule  these  outward  changes  to  suit  her 
necessities.      This  is  the  great  promise  of  the  Christian  dis- 


CONFLICT     AND     BEST     IN     THE     CHURCH.        481 

pensation.  Conjoined  with  the  Messianic  prophecies,  and 
characteristic  of  the  period  over  which  the  reign  of  Christ  is 
to  extend,  are  the  most  glowing  predictions  of  the  mission 
of  the  Spirit.  Jesus,  our  King,  hath  come,  hath  suffered, 
hath  ascended  His  throne.  Redemption,  on  the  side  of 
God,  is  all  accomplished  ;  but  on  the  side  of  man  it  is  yet 
only  in  a  small  measure  accomplished.  Now  is  the  reign  of 
the  Paraclete  ;  the  Illuminator,  the  Comforter,  the  Sancti- 
fier,  the  quickening  Spirit  of  the  Church,  and  the  regenerator 
of  the  world.  Forms  of  church  government,  symbols  of  doc- 
trine, modes  of  divine  worship,  a  learned  ministry — scriptural 
and  important  as  they  may  be — are  yet  powerless  of  them- 
selves to  renovate  the  heart,  or  cany  on  in  the  Christian  his 
education  for  heaven ;  with  them  all,  and  those  too  of  the 
purest  character,  a  church  may  die  out.  It  is  the  Holy 
Ghost  that  must  animate  the  ministry  and  breathe  upon  the 
congregation.  Under  His  quickening  presence,  the  unseen 
objects  of  faith  become  present  realities.  We  live,  we  move, 
as  on  the  confines  of  heaven  and  hell.  This  ivord  blazes 
with  celestial  light.  We  preach  it  as  if  Jesus  stood  visibly 
beside  us ;  we  hear  it  as  if  it  were  the  voice  of  God.  Its 
truths  become  living  principles ;  they  penetrate,  transform, 
exalt  the  entire  life  of  the  soul.  Then  this  soul,  become  a 
temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  resounds  perpetually  with  prayer 
and  praise ;  the  sweet  savor  of  love  and  hope,  of  penitence 
and  faith  and  self-sacrifice  fill  it  in  every  part.  The  Spirit 
moves  not  upon  the  Church  alone.  The  dry  bones  feel  His 
presence ;  they  come  together,  they  rise  up,  a  gi-eat  army  fuU 
of  life,  and  prepared  to  fight  the  battles  of  Immanuel.  The 
scenes  of  Pentecost  are  renewed.  Conflicts  issue  in  victories. 
Rest  opens  still  wide  the  gates  of  the  kingdom  to  the  throng- 
ing nations. 

And  here,  fathers  and  brethren,  is  the  great  lesson  which 
this  Scripture  brings  home  to  us.  It  is  not  the  outward  cir- 
cumstances of  trial  or  of  prosperity  that  will  pull  down  or 
build  up  the  Church.  For  he  who  sits  sovereign  over  her  doth 
ordain  these  as  the  conditions  through  which  for  a  time  she 

31 


482  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS.. 

must  pass.  It  is  the  divine  Spirit  alone  that  can  make  these 
things  a  benediction  rather  than  a  cm'se.  If  we  wait  upon 
the  Lord — if  we  cherish  a  deep  sense  of  our  dependence  upon 
his  power — if  we  magnify  and  honor  the  Holy  Ghost  in  all 
our  thoughts  and  acts — if  we  seek  for  this  as  the  grandest 
gift  of  Christ's  victory,  then  our  trials  will  he  transformed 
into  triumphs,  and  our  rest  from  conflict  will  be.  the  flood  tide 
of  a  wide  and  glorious  success. 

Doubtless  the  Church  has  yet  many  a  trial  to  endure,  and 
for  a  time  there  will  still  be  these  alternations  of  conflict  and 
repose.  But  of  two  things  we  feel  assured.  The  first  is  that 
the  times  of  trial  will  be  shortened  until  they  shall  wholly 
cease,  and  the  other  is  that  there  are  to  be,  as  the  star  of  Beth- 
lehem flames  brighter  and  higher  in  the  forehead  of  the  mil- 
lennial morn,  wide-spread,  more  fi-equent  and  more  wonderful 
outpourings  of  the  Sjjirit.  Outside  of  the  Church  the  advance 
of  a  material  civilization,  the  binding  of  the  nations  together 
in  a  brotherhood  of  commerce  and  science,  the  breaking  down 
of  barbarous  governments,  and  the  dift'usion  of  just  ideas  of 
civil  liberty,  and,  more  than  all,  the  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  all  the  languages  leading  on  to  clearer  ideas  of  the  true 
and  revealed  natm-e  of  Christianity,  are  crushing,  and  under 
Grod's  overruhng  providence,  will  mightily  conduce  to  the 
introduction  of  that  day  when  error  and  idolatry  shall  no 
longer  entrench  themselves  behind  civil  governments,  and 
wield  the  force  of  the  State  against  religion,  but  when  kings 
and  queens  shaU  be  nm'sing  fathers  and  mothers  to  the  house- 
hold of  faith. 

Within  the  Church  the  great  experiment  in  regard  to  the 
character  and  influence  of  eiTor  will  be  fully  made.  The  cor- 
ruptions that  have  warred  with  the  purity  and  life  of  the 
Church  will  be  so  known  and  marked,  that  they  will  be 
driven  without  her  borders.  The  Church  herself  will  learn 
how  most  successfully  to  apply  the  truths  of  the  gospel  to  the 
destruction  of  those  hybrid  monsters  which,  in  Church  and 
State,  have  lifted  their  unseemly  crests  in  battle  array  against 
the  best  interests  of  man. 


CONFLICT     AND     BEST     IN     THE     CHURCn.        483 

She  will  learn,  she  is  now  learning  how  to  bring  the  gos- 
pel to  bear  upon  the  social  condition  of  the  masses  of  poverty 
and  vice  in  our  crowded  cities,  until  the  power  of  a  blessed 
renovation  shall  be  felt  all  through  them,  and  the  horrible 
contrast  shall  no  more  shock  our  sensibilities,  of  the  temples 
of  infamy  and  degradation  rising  beside  the  temples  of  reli- 
gion ;  of  vice,  in  its  uttermost  depravity  and  blackest  depths 
of  pollution,  mighty  in  its  conquests  right  alongside  of  the 
altars  of  a  Christian  people. 

And  in  harmony  with  these  things,  yea,  aiding  vitally  to 
produce  them,  will  be  the  more  frequent  and  wide-spread 
visitations  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  need  not  repeat  the  familiar 
and  frequent  predictions  of  the  advent  and  progress  of  the 
mission  of  the  Holy  Grhost.  There  have  been  times  when  it 
needed  a  strong  faith  and  unclouded  vision  to  grasp  these 
promises  and  anticipate  their  fulfillment — when  only  such  a 
man  as  John  Howe,  preaching  to  a  handful  of  God's  people 
in  Cordwainers'  Hall,  amidst  the  blackness  of  that  eclipse  of 
faith  which  enwrapped  the  Church  after  the  accession  of  that 
incarnation  of  hypocrisy  and  lust,  Charles  II.,  could  see  with 
a  tearless  eye  and  portray  with  a  prophet's  pencil  the  glorious 
state  into  which  the  Church  of  Christ  would  soon  emerge. 
But  these  are  not  the  days  of  faith  ;  these  are  the  hours  of 
victory  ;  around  us,  and  far  abroad  in  lands  w^here  the  false 
prophet  has  had  his  sway,  is  advancing  the  wondrous  dem- 
onstration of  the  converting  power  of  God's  Spirit.  This  is 
one  of  those  days  of  jubilee,  symbolized  in  the  constitution  of 
ancient  Israel,  which  have  been  growing  more  frequent  the 
last  century,  and  which,  while  they  strike  the  hosts  of  dark- 
ness with  amazement,  are  to  the  Church  like  the  sun  of  Aus- 
terlitz  to  the  soldiers  of  Napoleon,  like  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  to  our  struggling  freemen,  a  vision  of  glory  to 
cheer  them,  a  clarion  voice  from  the  throne  of  Immanuel  stir- 
ring the  soldiers  of  the  cross  to  gird  themselves  for  the  hours 
of  darkness  and  the  scenes  of  conflict  that  may  yet  intervene, 
before  the  Stone  cut  out  without  hands  shall  have  smitten 


484  OCCASIONAL     SEEMONS. 

down  all  the  base  images  of  human  worship,  and  filled  the 
whole  earth. 

Even  now  before  our  eyes  is  that  ancient  promise  betoken- 
ing a  visible  reality.  "  I  will  open  rivers  in  high  places,  and 
fountains  in  the  midst  of  the  valleys  :  I  will  make  the  wil- 
derness a  pool  of  water,  and  the  dry  land  springs  of  water;  I 
will  plant  in  the  wilderness  the  cedar,  the  shittah  tree,  and 
the  myrtle,  and  the  oil  tree  ;  I  will  set  in  the  desert  the  fir 
tree,  and  the  pine,  and  the  box  tree  together  ;  that  they  may 
see,  and  know,  and  consider,  and  understand  together,  that 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  hath  done  this,  and  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel  hath  created  it."  The  hosts  of  God's  elect,  diverse  as 
the  cedar  and  the  olive  in  outward  form,  are  stiiving  together, 
not  to  pull  down  each  other,  but  to  build  up  the  everlasting 
temple  ;  to  plant  churches  in  the  wilderness,  and  make  the 
desert  bud  and  blossom  as  the  plain  of  Sharon  or  the  para- 
dise of  God. 

Fathers  and  brethren,  ministers  and  elders,  we  assemble 
here  amidst  the  brightness  of  these  scenes  of  revival — scenes 
such  as  the  Church  of  Christ  has  perhaps  never  enjoyed  so 
richly  before.  But  as  my  eye  passes  over  this  audience,  a 
shade  of  sadness  steals  in  upon  my  heart.  There  are  those 
who  have  been  wont  to  sit  with  us  in  this  high  councU, 
whose  hearty  greeting  we  miss  to-day.  Taking  exception  to 
the  ancient,  the  uniform,  the  oft-repeated  testimony  of  our 
church,  as  well  as  to  the  mode  of  its  utterance,  respecting  one 
of  the  greatest  moral  and  organic  evils  of  the  age ;  deeming 
it  better  to  occupy  a  platform,  foreign  indeed  to  the  genius  of 
our  free,  republican  institutions,  yet  adapted,  in  their  view, 
to  the  fuller  promulgation  of  the  gospel  in  the  section  where 
they  dwell,  they  have  preferred  to  take  an  independent  posi- 
tion, and  while  we  can  not  coincide  with  them  in  their  views 
on  this  subject ;  while  we  know  that  this  separation  has  been 
precipitated  upon  us,  not  sought  by  us  ;  yet  remembering  the 
days  when  with  us  they  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  against 
ecclesiastical  usurpation  and  revolution,  when  in  deepest  sym- 
pathy we  have  gone  to  the  house  of  God  in  company,  mingled 


CONFLICT     AND     KEST     IN     THE     CHURCH.      4S5 

our  prayers  "before  a  common  mercy-seat,  we  can  not  but  pray 
for  their  peace  and  prosperity.  We  claim  no  monopoly  of  wis- 
dom and  right.  If  in  our  course  hitherto  we  have  been  moved 
to  acts  or  deeds  unfraternal  or  unbefitting  our  mutual  rela- 
tions ;  if  in  the  attempt  to  maintain  our  ancient  principles, 
and  apply  the  gospel  to  the  heart  of  this  gigantic  evil,  we 
have  given  utterance  to  language  that  has  tended  to  ex- 
asperate rather  than  quicken  to  duty,  we  claim  no  exemption 
from  censm'e,  we  ask  the  forgiveness  we  are  equally  ready  to 
accord. 

Taking  our  position  far  above  the  feelings  of  the  hour,  we 
see  the  same  great  sovereignty  which  through  dark  conflicts 
hath  conducted  the  Church  up  to  a  position  of  wide  influence, 
preparing  the  way  for  the  noble  triumphs  of  om-  common 
Christianity.  For  more  than  twenty  years  we  have  been 
subject  to  a  strange  discipline,  sometimes  to  a  baptism  of  fire. 
It  was  necessary  for  us  to  sufier,  in  order  that  we  might  tri- 
umph. He  who  in  every  age  hath  seen  fit  thus  to  settle  his 
Church  upon  the  rock,  and  then  crown  her  steadfast  adher- 
ents to  truth  with  victory,  hath  brought  us  forth  more  com- 
pact, more  vigorous,  better  prepared  in  simple  dependence 
upon  his  power  to  build  up  his  kingdom.  Never  before  have 
we  occupied  so  commanding  a  position — a  position  so  truly  in 
sympathy  with  the  great  heart  of  Chiistianity  abroad  and  at 
home,  a  position  from  which  we  can  send  forth  so  wide  and 
far-reaching  an  influence.  We  have  a  vast  field  to  cultivate. 
We  may  have  to  adjust  our  machinery,  to  our  advanced  con- 
dition. The  methods  which  were  wise  in  one  generation  are 
not  always  wise  in  another.  Churches  develop  themselves 
inevitably,  if  they  develop  at  all,  in  harmony  with  the  cir- 
cumstances around  them.  He  who  attempts  to  resist  this 
law  must  die.  All  foreign  churches  on  our  soil  are  bound  to 
become  American  in  genius,  in  power,  in  manifestation,  or 
perish.  We  must  develop  ourselves  in  the  line  of  God's  prov- 
idence. What  is  a  General  Assembly  worth,  what  are  ecclesi- 
astical councils  worth,  if  they  only  stereotype  the  past,  while 
they  refuse  to  recognize  a  new,  a  grand,  a  nobler  present  ?    Jt 


486  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

is  the  remark  of  a  very  profound  writer,  in  substance,  that  the 
force  of  any  one  great  movement  in  the  Church  is  limited  to 
some  thirty  or  forty  years.  Then  a  new  era  must  commence, 
if  the  Church  advances.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  we  wisely  adapt 
ourselves  to  the  field  we  have  open  to  us  ;  that  we  seek,  in 
the  catholic  spirit  towards  other  branches  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus,  which  has  been  one  of  our  noblest  characteristics,  to 
develop  our  resources  in  liarmony  with  the  true  genius  of  our 
constitution  and  discii^line.  But  while  we  do  this,  let  us  not 
forget  that  peace  hath  her  defeats  as  well  as  her  victories.  Let 
us  remember  that  it  is  only  as  we  walk  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  we  can  expect  our 
churches  to  be  built  up  in  the  faith,  and  converts  multipHed. 
And  let  us  all  unite  in  the  prayer,  "  Give  ear,  0  Shepherd 
of  Israel ;  thou  that  leadest  Joseph  like  a  flock,  thou  that 
dwellest  between  the  cherubim,  shine  forth.  Before  Eph- 
raim,  Benjamin,  and  Manasseh  stir  up  thy  strength.  Let 
thy  priests  be  clothed  with  salvation,  and  let  thy  saints  re- 
joice LQ  goodness." 


XIV. 

PRESBYTERY.* 

"  But  speaking  the  truth  in  love,  may  grow  up  into  him  in  all  things,  which 
is  the  head,  even  Christ :  from  whom  the  whole  body  fitly  joined  together  and 
compacted  by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  effectual  work- 
ing iu  the  measure  of  every  part,  maketh  increase  of  the  bod}"-  unto  the  edifying 
of  itself  in  love." — EpHESiiNS,  iv.  15,  16. 

In  the  human  hody,  far  more  strikingly  than  among  the 
brutes,  the  head  occupies  the  chief  seat  of  dignity.  Here  is 
the  wonderful  organism  of  thought ;  here  the  source  of  those 
vital  currents  that  traverse  the  entire  system  and  flow  to  the 
extremities.  From  this  comes  forth  the  clear  view,  the  pro- 
found understanding,  the  energetic  purpose,  the  vigorous  will. 
It  is  this  dome  of  the  ever-thinking  soul  that  proclaims  man's 
supremacy  above  brute  nature.  With  this  erect  he  treads  the 
earth,  its  acknowledged  lord.  The  hotly,  dependent  on,  and 
so  subordinate  to,  this  intelligent  chief,  has  its  own  work  and 
its  own  characteristics.  It  is  constructed  of  many  parts,  adapted 
to  diverse  operations,  bearing  various  forms.  It  has  its  limbs 
without,  as  the  executives  of  the  will  of  the  indwelling  spirit ; 
while  within,  it  is  furnished  with  that  wonderful  mechanism 
which,  independently  of  the  volitions,  elaborates  the  blood, 
and  diffuses  and  maintains  the  animal  vitality  through  the 
entire  system.  To  this  human  form  the  apostle  in  our  text 
compares  the  Christian  Church.  Christ  is  the  head,  occupy- 
ing the  position  of  highest  dignity,  containing  in  himself  the 
fuUness  of  that  sphitual  life  wliich  flows  in  vital  currents  to 
the  extremities  of  the  Church  ;  while,  as  the  possessor  of  in- 

*  A  sermon  preached  at  the  opening  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  at  Oxford, 
Ohio,  October  18,  1850. 


488  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

fallible  wisdom,  he  presides  over  all  her  movements,  and  as  the 
inheritor  of  all  power,  he  secures  to  her  protection  and  bless- 
ing. The  Church  itself  is  the  body,  dependent  on  him  for  vital 
communications,  and  wholly  subordinate  to  his  rule.  This 
Church  is  not,  in  form,  distinguished  by  some  single  feature. 
Like  the  body,  it  has  its  trunk  and  limbs.  The  diversity  of 
gifts,  of  offices,  and  operations  which  belong  to  the  former,  are 
employed  by  the  apostles  as  a  fine  illustration  of  the  diverse 
offices  and  operations  characteristic  of  the  latter.  Instead  of 
all  being  under  obligation  to  minister  in  the  same  manner  to 
the  edification  of  the  brethren,  there  is  everywhere  inculcated 
a  striking  diversity  both  of  original  gifts  and  ecclesiastical 
offices,  which  are  to  be  exercised  and  filled  for  the  good  of  all. 
Some  are  set  apart  to  this  work,  others  to  that ;  some  minis- 
ter at  tables  ;  some  rule  with  authority  ;  some  work  mira- 
cles ;  some  preach  the  truth  ;  some  declare  the  future ;  some, 
with  infallible  certainty,  settle  the  foundations  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  and  complete  the  canon  of  the  inspired  "V\''ord. 
"For  the  body  is  not  07ie  member,  but  many."  "If  the 
whole  body  were  an  eye,  where  were  the  hearing  ?  If  the 
whole  were  hearing,  where  were  the  smelling  ?  But  now 
hath  God  set  the  members,  every  one  of  them,  in  the  body 
as  it  hath  pleased  him.  Now,  ye  are  the  body  of  Christ, 
and  members  in  particular.  And  God  hath  set  some  in  the 
Church  :  first,  apostles  ;  secondly,  prophets  ;  thirdly,  teach- 
ers ;  after  that,  miracles  ;  then  gifts  of  healing,  helps,  gov- 
ernments, diversities  of  tongues.  Are  all  apostles  ?  Are  all 
prophets  ?  Are  all  teachers  ?  Are  all  workers  of  miracles  ? 
Have  all  the  gifts  of  healing  ?  Do  aU  speak  with  tongues  ? 
Do  all  interpret  ?" 

The  Church,  thus  impressively  placed  before  us,  was  not, 
like  a  prairie,  a  dead,  monotonous  level,  unbroken  by  hill  and 
vale,  unvariegated  by  lofty  mountains  and  far-sounding  cat- 
aract ;  nor  was  it  like  a  village  built  thereon,  in  which  every 
house  bore  the  same  outward  form,  was  limited  to  precisely 
the  same  dimensions,  in  which  no  Parthenon  lifted  itself  above 
humbler  dwellings,  and  no  vast  temple  or  palace  stood  forth 


PRESBYTERY.  489 

in  singular  majesty.  It  is  not  a  Church  of  a  single  office,  a 
membership  undistinguished  by  orders,  governors,  and  diver- 
sities of  offices.  It  is  indeed  a  Church  in  its  outward  form, 
fitted  to  the  undeveloped  and  elementary  state  of  youth ; 
furnished  with  some  gifts  and  offices  that  either  ceased  by 
necessity  with  the  death  of  their  possessors,  or  ceased  from 
the  passing  away  of  the  emergency  which  gave  them  exist- 
ence. It  possessed  officers  who,  by  the  very  nature  of  their 
office,  were  incapacitated  from  having  successors.  It  had  its 
apostles,  its  prophets,  its  miracle  workers  ;  a  mighty  enginery 
through  which  the  divine  energy  wrought  out  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity  in  ways  the  most  splendid,  and  man- 
ifestly supernatural ;  and  at  length  brought  forth  that  great- 
est miracle  on  which  the  eyes  of  all  coming  generations  might 
rest,  even  the  New  Testament  Scriptures — an  enginery,  how- 
ever, too  cumbrous  for  Christianity  when  once  established,  and 
destined,  with  all  its  magnificence,  to  take  its  place  beside  the 
splendid  ritual  of  the  economy  of  Moses.  Just  as  that  Moses, 
a  single,  mighty  mind,  a  general  of  despotic  power,  was  essen- 
tial to  the  establishment  of  that  tabernacle  and  priestly  service, 
that  dispensation  which  was  to  educate  the  people  of  God  till 
Shiloh  came;  so  was  the  apostolic  hierarchy,  and  the  outflaming 
splendor  of  miracles,  essential  to  the  establishment  of  Chris- 
tianity. And  just  as  that  despotism  fell  to  the  gi'ound,  when 
the  exigency  that  had  created  it  passed  away,  leaving  to  Israel 
a  government  of  simple  republicanism,  so  did  the  apostles  and 
prophets  and  workers  of  miracles  retire  from  the  stage  for  ever 
when  the  necessity  which  gave  them  to  the  Church  had  ceased. 
They  w^ho  saw  Christ  on  earth  ;  they  who  penetrated  into  the 
future  and  brought  forth  its  mysteries  ;  they  who  spake  with 
tongues  and  suspended  the  laws  of  nature,  that  through  them 
divine  wisdom  might  gather  about  the  cross  the  convictions  of 
the  world,  left  for  future  generations  then-  testimony  embalmed 
in  the  Word  of  God.  Their  extraordinary  mission  ended,  the 
Church  is  committed  to  this  inspired  volume  for  her  guidance 
and  defense  ;  while  through  the  offices  and  gifts  that  remain 
to  her  she  seeks  to  train  the  world  for  heaven. 


490  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

It  is  the  doctrine  of  tlie  text  that  each  part  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  has  its  own  appropriate  work,  in  the  performance  of 
which,  not  only  itself,  but  the  whole  body  is  vitally  and  hap- 
pily affected.  This  work  is  not  here  divided  oif  and  distin- 
guished. In  other  parts  of  Scripture,  the  leading  offices  and 
departments  of  labor  are  marked  out  ;  but,  in  the  main,  it  is 
left  to  the  members  of  the  household  of  faith,  in  the  exercise 
of  an  intelligent  piety,  to  discern  and  perform  that  which  be- 
longs to  them  individually  and  collectively.  It  is  not  pro- 
posed in  this  discourse  to  enumerate  the  various  duties  that 
rise  out  of  the  relations  of  Christians  to  each  other  and  the 
world.  I  wish  rather  to  limit  the  discussion  to  those  more 
prominent  works  and  offices  which  give  form  to  the  Church 
before  the  world — the  outward  machinery  through  which  her 
power  manifests  itself  in  the  view  of  men.  In  doing  this,  you 
wiU  permit  me  to  reverse  the  usual  process,  and  instead  of 
proceeding  from  results  back  to  causes,  to  advance  from  causes 
to  results.  Let  us  seek  to  determine,  from  the  known  princi- 
ples of  man's  nature  and  the  truth  of  God,  what  will  be  a 
truly  spiritual  and  healthy  development  of  the  body  of  Christ; 
what  will  be  the  various  offices  and  operations  essential  to  its 
most  perfect  form  in  the  ordinary  state  of  Christianity  ;  let  us 
descend  to  its  original  elements,  and  keeping  in  our  view  the 
mixed  and  imperfect  nature  to  be  molded,  and  the  character 
of  the  truth  through  which  that  nature  is  to  be  changed  into  the 
fullness  of  the  divine  image,  let  us  proceed  thence  to  trace  out 
its  unfolding  according  to  the  condition  and  necessities  of  a 
life  on  earth. 

The  word  "  church"  is  originally  a  term  which,  as  Hooker 
well  observes,  "  art  hath  devised,  thereby  to  sever  and  distin- 
guish that  society  of  men  which  professeth  the  true  religion, 
from  the  rest  which  profess  it  not."  The  "ecclesia" ■'■'•"  of  Scrip- 
ture points  to  the  assemblage  of  those  whom  God  hath  elected 
out  of  the  world  to  be  his  disciples.  When,  then,  a  number 
of  such  persons  are  found  together,  as  either  are,  or  suj^pose 

*  "  Ecclesia,"  or  church,  the  elect,  the  called  out  of,  the  separate. 


PRESBYTEEY.  491 

they  are  renewed  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  receive  the  Saviour 
as  their  Kedeemer,  and  the  word  of  Grod  as  their  infaUible 
rule  of  life,  their  first  want  will  be  some  outward  union,  en- 
abling them  to  enjoy  the  means  of  grace,  and  the  ordinances 
of  the  gospel,  the  materials  for  individual  improvement,  such 
as  mere  isolation  never  can  bestow.  Christianity,  indeed, 
while  it  is  individual  and  personal  in  its  commencement,  yet 
is  social  and  general  in  the  sympathies  and  tendencies  it  cre- 
ates ;  while  in  its  origin  it  begins  in  the  single  heart,  shut  up 
to  itself  and  God,  yet  in  its  progress  it  creates  an  expansive 
affection  that,  like  the  sunlight,  seeks  objects  on  which  to 
pour  itself,  and  around  which  it  may  shed  the  fullness  of  its 
own  joy  ;  so  that  he  who  yesterday  felt  isolated  from  the 
world,  a  guilty  sinner,  stricken  by  the  arrow  of  justice,  and 
flying  from  the  sight  of  men  to  the  soKtude  of  his  chamber, 
or  to  the  recesses  of  the  forest ;  to-day  a  penitent  behever 
pants  for  the  communion  of  saints,  the  comfort  of  their  sym- 
pathy, the  joy  of  their  affection,  the  instruction  of  their  ex- 
perience, the  quickening  influence  of  their  prayers,  and  the 
exaltation  and  guidance  of  their  public  worship.  By  a  law 
of  sympathy  and  affection  and  interest,  as  true,  as  certain  as 
that  which  urges  the  drops  trickling  from  the  mountain  sides 
to  unite  in  rivulets,  and  from  rivulets  to  form  rivers,  do  in- 
dividual Christians  flow  together  into  Christian  assemblies 
for  mutual  edification,  and  the  more  rapid  increase  and  per- 
fection of  the  body  of  Chiist.  There  is  a  law  of  Christian 
union  and  unity  which  springs  into  existence  cotemporane- 
ously  with  the  birth  of  a  soul  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
instantly  begins  to  attract  together  the  scattered  members  of 
the  visible  Church.  The  outward  necessity  of  combining  to 
maintain  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  and  promote  the  ad- 
vancement of  religion  among  men,  is  based  upon  a  secret  law 
of  affection  and  sympathy,  which  thus  admirably  secures  spir- 
itual harmony  and  unity  long  before  the  mere  necessities  of 
the  Christian  life  have  originated  a  visible  and  formal  organi- 
zation. "  Behold  how  these  Christians  love  one  another," 
antedates  the  form  and  regimen  of  the  visible  Church,  and 


492  OCCASIOXAL     SERMONS. 

insures  their  existence.  This  primary  assembly,  without 
organization,  "svithout  government,  holds  the  elements  of  a 
Church  of  Chi-ist.  It  is  not,  indeed,  a  perfectly  formed 
Church,  fitted  for  the  most  successful  action ;  hut  it  is  the 
hegianing  of  such  a  Church.  The  company  of  believers  who 
thus  assemble  to  worshij)  God,  and  administer  the  ordinances 
of  the  gospel,  and  assist  each  other  to  spread  the  taowledge  of 
Christ  among  men,  although  they  have  not  attained  the  form 
of  a  well-developed  and  fitly-organized  Chi^istian  Church,  are 
yet  a  portion  of  the  body  of  Chiist,  and  the  matemls  of 
such  a  chm'ch  gathered  together  for  a  healthful  adjustment. 

One  of  the  first  wants  felt  by  such  an  assemblage  will  be 
the  terms  of  communion.  For  as  truth,  doctrine,  piinciples 
are  ultimately  the  som'ce  of  feeling,  and  so  of  hannony,  it 
must  first  be  deteraiined  what  truths  these  individuals  recog- 
nize as  the  platform  on  which  they  shall  all  stand.  As  the 
object  of  such  a  union  is  Christian  communion,  Chi'istian 
worship,  Christian  ordinances,  and  the  advancement  of  Chris- 
tian interests,  it  must  fij'st  be  settled  what  this  communion 
and  worship,  these  ordinances  and  interests  involve  as  essen- 
tial. Hence,  from  the  necessities  of  the  human  mind,  from  a 
necessity  inherent  in  the  organization  of  a  Church  of  Christ, 
from  the  necessity  of  distinguishing  it  from  the  chm"ch  of  the 
devil,*  and  for  the  mutual  understanding  and  communion  of 
its  members,  the  creed,  or  the  expression  of  that  which  fonns 
the  bond  of  such  union,  arises.  We  fi-eely  admit  and  rest 
upon  the  opinion  that  the  word  of  God  is  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  practice,  the  ultimate  standard  and  final  test 
of  all  doctrines  that  afiect  the  salvation  of  men.  But  when 
it  is  said  the  Bible,  and  that  alone,  is  om-  creed,  we  "^vish  to 
know  what,  in  your  opinion,  that  book  teaches.  If  it  con- 
tained merely  a  collection  of  abstract,  colorless,  passionless 
propositions  ;  a  series  of  axioms,  of  lines  and  angles,  about 
which  there  could  be  no  mistake,  and  of  which  there  could  be 
no  pei-version  and  misrepresentation,  then  for  one  man  to 

*  Revelations,  ii  9. 


TRESBYTEKY.  493 

j^irofess  to  receive  it,  would  be  as  plain  to  another  as  the  pro- 
fessed reception  of  the  axioms  of  geometry.  Instead  of  this, 
the  Bible  is  addressed  to  the  ivlioh  man,  not  merely  to  his 
reason  and  intuitive  perceptions,  but  through  them  to  his 
affections,  his  hopes,  and  his  fears.  Yea,  it  rises  far  above 
reason,  and  brings  forth  the  openings  of  deep  mysteries,  the 
beginnings  of  vast  truths,  to  us  visible  only  in  part,  while  the 
rest  stretches  far  away  into  the  profoundness  of  the  being  and 
eternity  of  God.  It  staggers  reason  by  its  amazing  communi- 
cations ;  it  appeals  to  faith  to  bear  up  the  burden  of  its  lofty 
teachings  ;  it  crosses  the  earthly  passions  at  the  very  outset 
of  its  announcements  ;  it  overrides  all  human  authority,  pros- 
trates all  human  dignity,  and  seeks  not  to  save  a  man  till  it 
has  convinced  him  that  he  is  lost  ;  or  to  exalt  him  to  riches 
and  purity,  tiU  it  has  made  him  poor  and  vile,  and  utterly 
without  strength.  Such  a  Bible  as  this,  in  such  a  world  as 
this,  uttering  itself  in  figures,  in  allegories,  in  all  the  forms  of 
human  language,  molded  by  all  the  different  powers  of  the 
intellect  and  the  heart,  becomes  itself  a  discipline  to  the  mind 
of  the  world,  and  its  partial  or  full  reception  by  the  intellect 
and  affections,  as  much  a  matter  of  trial  as  the  exercise  of 
faith  in  the  Son  of  Grod,  with  which  it  ultimately  unites.  It 
is  a  book  whose  teachings  may  be  wi'ested,  by  those  who  are  so 
purposed,  to  their  own  destruction  ;  it  is  a  book  that  wicked- 
ness may  distort,  and  prejudice  pervert.  They  have  thus 
wrested  it  in  every  age.  In  proportion  to  its  excellence  ;  its 
adaptation  to  the  human  mind  ;  its  glory,  transcendent  above 
all  other  writings  ;  its  variety,  and  condensation,  and  direct- 
ness, and  superhuman  power,  is  its  capability  of  perversion 
and  misinterpretation  by  men  of  an  evil  spirit.  To  make, 
therefore,  a  professed  reception  of  the  Bible  the  tenn  of  com- 
munion, is  to  leave  the  door  open  for  the  widest  and  wildest 
extremes  of  opinion  ;  it  would  throw  the  vital  bond  of  a  Chris- 
tian church  around  those  whose  views  and  sympathies  and 
feelings  on  the  most  fundamental  of  all  questions,  as  experience 
has  long  since  demonstrated,  might  be  in  direct  opposition  ;  it 
would  sweep  together  Hume  and  Wilberforce,  Priestly  and 


494  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

Paysoii,  Pelagius  and  Augustine,  Luther  and  Gregory,  a 
heterogeneous  mass  of  elements  too  hard  to  he  molded,  too 
active  to  be  restrained,  too  discordant  for  harmonious  de- 
veloj)ment  or  efficient  cooperation. 

If  now  the  attempt  should  be  made  to  avoid  this  diffi- 
culty, by  recognizing  only  such  as  truly  and  fully  received 
the  Bible,  according  to  the  most  common-sense  interpreta- 
tion, yet  this  very  attempt  must  be  preceded  by  a  settlement 
of  the  question.  What  is  this  common-sense  interpretation.^ 
What  does  this  book  teach  ?  In  other  words,  by  the  forma- 
tion of  a  creed.  On  the  other  hand,  if  Christian  experience 
be  constituted  the  term  of  Christian  fellowship,  yet  the  same 
difficulty  meets  us  at  the  threshold  ;  what  constitutes  Chris- 
tian experience  ?  What  are  its  elements  ?  By  what  is  it 
measured,  and  how  shall  it  be  tested  ?  But  this  is  to  form  a 
creed.  Besides,  Christian  experience  is  but  the  counterpart 
of  Christian  doctrine ;  it  is  doctrine  incarnated,  living,  act- 
ing. The  heart  is  molded  by  the  truth.  The  views  enter- 
tained of  the  subject  by  a  Christian,  or  a  purely  worldly 
experience,  will  stamp  themselves  upon  that  experience.  As 
the  parent  jjrints  the  lineaments  of  his  face  upon  his  oif- 
siDring,  so  will  they  upon  their  offspring.  What  is  thought 
of  God,  and  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Ghost — of  sin  and  atone- 
ment, of  justification,  and  works,  and  faith,  and  prayer,  will 
as  surely  be  revealed  in  the  experience,  as  the  character  of  the 
mold  is  declared  by  the  casting.  In  these  vital  questions, 
God  hath  bound  the  intellect  and  the  heart  so  closely  to- 
gether, that  all  who  are  born  into  his  kingdom,  are  said  to 
have  been  born  again  by  the  truth.  The  word  occupies  no 
subordinate  position  in  the  origin  of  the  Christian  life,  and 
all  true  experience  in  a  believer  is,  necessarily,  the  feeling 
which  that  truth,  when  received,  has  wrought  in  the  soul.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that,  in  order  to  the  perfect  organization 
of  a  Christian  church,  the  terms  of  communion,  involving  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  gospel  received  into  the  intel- 
lect, and,  as  far  as  man  can  judge,  into  the  heart,  will  first 
be  settled.     And  be  the  expression  of  this  longer  or  shorter, 


PRESBYTERY.  495 

written  or  understood,  it  will  constitute  a  creed,  or  confession 
of  their  faith^' 

This  congregation  of  believers  have  now  attained  the 
terms  of  communion.  But  meeting  in  mass,  they  are  with- 
out officers,  without  an  executive  or  administrative  organiza- 
tion. They  have,  as  yet,  no  government.  They  are  all  equal 
in  right,  in  privilege,  in  obligation.  They  are  agreed  as  to 
what  they  believe  ;  but  not  as  to  what  they  will  do;  nor  as 
to  the  manner  in  which  they  shall  seek  to  realize  the  pur- 
poses for  which  they  assemble.  They  have  only  determined 
lolio  shall  be  permitted  to  belong  to  their  communion  ;  liow 
that  communion  will  best  be  preserved  and  promoted,  is  yet 
unsettled.  No  sooner  do  they  meet  for  worship,  than  diffi- 
culties arise,  wants  reveal  themselves.  Are  all  to  pray  ?  Can 
all  teach  ?  Are  all  obligated  to  administer  the  ordinances  ? 
Such  an  assembly  is  a  mob,  without  "  decency,"  and  without 
"  order."  It  is  found  essential  to  their  edification  to  appoint 
officers  ;  to  set  apart  some  to  special  duties,  clothe  them  with 
special  privileges  and  powers  ;  in  short,  to  organize  a  gov- 
ernment, and  frame  the  regimen  of  public  worship.  In  doing 
this,  it  is  found  necessary,  in  the  first  place,  that  some  one 
should  be  set  apart  to  lead  in  the  devotions  of  the  assembly, 
and  stand  responsible  for  its  order  and  wise  conduct.  It  is 
necessary  that  some  one  should  administer  the  sacraments  in 
an  orderly  and  impressive  manner;  that  there  should  be  some 
one,  of  sufficient  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  the  word,  to  visit 
the  sick  and  the  dying,  and  exercise  a  care  for  all  the  congre- 
gation. The  Bible  being  such  a  book  as  it  is,  so  full,  so  rich, 
so  various,  written  originally  in  other,  and  those  dead  lan- 
guages, in  another  land,  colored  by  customs,  and  manners, 
and  scenes  foreign  to  most  of  the  world,  and  rejilete  with 
profound  doctrines,  remote  from  the  popular  apprehension  : 
the  mind  of  man  being  what  it  is,  so  easily  blinded  to  the 
tnith  ;  and  the  life  of  man  being  so  full  of  care  and  business 
of  time,  rendering  it  needful  that  clear  and  stining  views  of 
truth  should  often  be  presented  to  it ;  and  more  than  all,  the 

*  Romans,  xvi.  17.    Galatians,  L  7.     Matthew,  xxiv.  4,  5, 


496  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

world  being  indifferent  or  hostile,  and  demanding  that  the 
I^rincijjles  of  the  gospel  should  be  clearly  unfolded,  j)roved, 
defended  against  objections,  and  urged  home  upon  the  souls 
of  men,  to  win  them  to  Christ ;  these  things  being  so,  it  is 
found  necessary  that  some  one  should  be  set  apart  to  the 
special  work  of  preaching  the  gospel,  of  defending  its  doc- 
trines, and  presenting  its  various  truths  according  to  the 
wants  and  circumstances  of  the  congregation.  As  these 
duties  are  of  the  most  difficult  character,  as  they  demand 
study  and  time,  and  learning,  tasking  the  highest  powers  of 
the  intellect,  so  a  person  must  be  selected,  best  quahfied  for 
such  a  work,  by  the  ripeness  of  his  mental  powers,  and  espe- 
cially by  that  spiritual  discipline  through  which  the  grace 
of  Grod  most  manifestly  sets  men  apart  for  these  high  duties. 
As  the  position  is  one  of  great  responsibility,  so  it  should  be 
clothed  with  great  dignity  ;  as  it  is  one  of  continued  labor, 
of  the  incessant  devotion  of  all  the  powers  of  the  man  to  the 
spiritual  interests  and  eternal  well-being  of  the  Church  and 
world,  so  its  incumbent,  lifted  above  all  anxiety  about  tem- 
poral wants,  should  be  upheld  by  an  ample  and  generous  sup- 
port. Hence  springs  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  and  edifi- 
cation. It  belongs  to  the  fallen  and  impure  state  of  man, 
and  the  imperfect  condition  of  the  Church.  It  rises  natur- 
ally out  of  those  very  necessities  which  originally  constrained 
the  union  of  the  people  of  Grod  in  religious  assemblies.  In 
the  form  in  which  it  now  exists,  it  is  peculiar  to  Christianity. 
Neither  Paganism,  Judaism  nor  Mohammedanism  brought 
forth  the  simple  and  original  idea  of  a  Christian  ministry — a 
ministry  "  not  appointed  Kke  the  priests  of  Pagan  antiquity, 
for  the  performance  of  ceremonies,  but  for  the  inculcation  of 
truth  ;  not  to  conduct  the  pomp  of  lustrations  and  sacrifices, 
but  to  loatcli  for  souls  as  they  that  must  give  account."  It 
arises  out  of  the  simple  structure  of  Christianity  itself,  seek- 
ing, by  the  power  of  truth,  to  impress  the  reason,  quicken  the 
conscience,  and  purify  the  heart ;  out  of  the  divine  purpose 
to  bring  reHgion  home  to  the  bosoms  of  men,  through  the  fre- 
quent unfolding  of  the  truth  by  human  lips,  rather  than  by 


PRESBYTERY.  407 

an  impressive  and  a  formal  ceremonial.  The  design  of  God 
and  the  intent  of  the  Saviour  thus  harmonize  with  our  neces- 
sities. The  same  causes  which  impel  a  Christian  people  to 
unite  at  all,  will  oblige  them  to  go  farther,  to  institute  and 
maintain  for  the  more  perfect  accomplishment  of  all  the  great 
objects  of  their  association,  the  ministry  of  the  gospel.* 

Having  thus  elected  and  set  apart  one  to  act  as  their  min- 
ister, pastor,  or  bishop,  they  have  next  to  determine  the  order 
of  public  worship.  In  doing  this,  they  would  naturally  be 
guided  by  three  principles.  They  will  seek  a  style  of  worshi}> 
in  harmony  with  tlie  simplicity  of  the  Christian  dispensation 
— best  adapted  to  promate  the  purest  spirituality,  and  bring 
the  heart  most  directly  into  contact  with  God — and  one  that 
will  most  fully  meet  the  varying  wants  of  a  congregation. 

First,  it  will  be  their  aim  to  arrange  their  worship  in  hai- 
mony  with  the  simplicity  of  Christianity.  The  age  of  rites. 
and  types,  and  impressive  ceremonial,  was  closed  by  the  ad- 
vent of  Christ.  The  temple,  with  its  elaborate  arrangements 
and  successive  passages  of  deepening  solemnity,  from  the  court 
of  the  Gentiles  to  the  holiest  of  holies  ;  the  altar,  with  its 
round  of  sacrifices,  its  lustrations,  and  incense,  and  blood  ; 
the  priests,  with  their  distinctive  and  gorgeous  vestments  ; 
and  the  Levites,  with  their  various  service,  all  passed  away 
when  He  appeared.  There  was  a  propriety  in  this  splendid 
and  diversified  regimen  of  God's  house,  at  the  time  of  its 
institution.  The  holding  up  on  high  the  mighty  fact  of 
atonement  by  blood,  as  yet  revealed  only  in  jirophecy,  and, 
therefore,  easy  to  be  misapprehended  and  lost ;  the  gathering 
together  of  Israel  around  the  altar,  for  the  express  purpose 
of  isolating  them  from  all  other  nations,  as  the  matrix  in 
which  the  Christian  Church  was  to  be  formed  for  its  glorious 
birth — these  are  considerations  that  obviously  justify  the 
ecclesiastical  constitution  of  Moses.  But  when  Jesus  came, 
these  reasons  existed  no  longer.  The  cross  was  jilanted,  the 
gospel  written,  and  the  truth  of  redemption  was  set  up  in  his- 

*  Matthew,  xxviii.  19,  20.      Acts,  xx.  28.      Jeremiah,  iii.  15.      1  Peter,  v. 
2,  4.     1  Corinthians,  iv.  1.     2  Corinthians,  iii.  6. 

32 


498  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

tory,  amid  the  most  stupendous  transactions  of  liuman  and 
divine  power,  where  the  world  could  not  help  see  it  through 
all  future  time.  That  which  rites  and  types  once  taught,  now 
was  proclaimed  by  apostles  and  ministers,  and  unfolded  in 
the  New  Testament ;  no  longer  isolated  in  Judea,  it  was  pre- 
j)ared  and  destined  to  speak  to  the  heart  of  universal  man. 
That  which  once  bore  the  stamp  of  a  divinely  impressed  pro- 
priety, in  this  new  and  simjjle  dispensation,  where  circum- 
cision availeth  nothing,  and  Moses  gives  place  to  Jesus,  bears 
upon  its  front  the  impress  of  an  obvious  impropriety — as  a 
reversal  of  the  intent  of  God — an  attempt  to  cast  the  swath- 
ing bands  of  infancy  around  the  expanding  form  of  youth, 
and  dwarf  the  stature  of  the  soul  into  the  diminutiveness  of 
a  perpetual  childhood. 

In  harmony  with  this  sweeping  away  of  the  old,  the 
formal,  the  typical,  the  ritual,  the  intricate,  the  outwardly 
splendid  ;  in  harmony  with  the  rent  vail,  and  the  openness 
of  the  divine  revelation,  and  the  directness  of  its  appeals, 
and  the  entire  simplicity  of  the  new  dispensation,  this  con- 
gregation of  believers  will  have  as  little  of  art  and  form  about 
their  worship  as  is  consistent  with  a  just  order,  variety,  and 
uniformitj^  The  preaching  of  the  gospel,  the  reading  of  the 
holy  Scrijotures,  the  oifering  of  prayer,  and  the  singing  of 
psalms  and  hymns,  constituting  the  elements  of  public  wor- 
ship, will  follow  each  other  according  to  the  simplest  arrange- 
ment, so  as  to  relieve  alike  both  pastor  and  people  from  undue 
fatigue,  and  secure  the  utmost  depth  and  unity  of  impression. 
They  will  not  seek  to  work  these  things  together  as  a  piece 
of  art,  an  elaborate  Mosaic  service,  in  which  the  hand  of  in- 
vention shall  be  perpetually  visible  ;  to  understand  which, 
requires  study  and  practice  ;  involving  a  long-drawn  succes- 
sion of  changes  of  posture,  of  erections  and  prostrations,  of 
addresses  and  responses,  so  complicated  as  to  demand  a  direct- 
ory, and  bewilder  even  the  intelligent  stranger,  who,  for  the 
first  time,  witnesses  it,  and  lead  him  to  imagine  himself  in 
the  presence  of  some  pantomimic  representation.  They  will 
seek  rather  to  have  the  number  of  chano;es  in  their  service  as 


PRESBYTERY.  499 

few  as  is  consistent  with  a  just  variety,  and  so  open  and  sim- 
ple in  their  order,  as  to  commend  themselves  to  the  piety  and 
intelligence  of  all  the  followers  of  Jesus.  They  will  not 
clothe  their  ministers  in  priestly  vestments,  bringing  hack 
into  Christian  assemblies  the  Mosaic  idea  of  a  formal  and 
outward  holiness,  in  opposition  to  the  New  Testament  idea, 
that  all  Christians  are  now  a  royal  priesthood, "■•'■■  and  attract- 
ing to  the  mere  man  that  attention  which  should  be  given  to 
the  truth.  Standing  upon  the  higher  platform  of  this  Chris- 
tian dispensation,  they  will  conform  the  style  of  their  wor- 
ship to  its  noble  simplicity. 

Second,^ they  will  seek  a  kind  of  service  best  adapted  to 
promote  the  highest  spirituality  of  mind,  and  bring  the  heart 
into  the  most  intelligent  communion  with  God.  In  the  ser- 
vice of  the  sanctuary,  there  are  two  principal  objects.  The 
first  is  instruction  ;  the  second,  the  awakening  and  expression 
of  devotion  :  the  first  involves  the  communication  of  just 
views  of  the  divine  character,  and  our  relations  and  duties  ; 
the  second,  the  expression  of  our  affections,  and  the  training 
of  the  heart  to  intimate  and  direct  communion  with  the  Re- 
deemer. The  first  is  essential  to  the  second  ;  it  is  the  foun- 
dation for  the  edifice,  it  is  the  condition  indispensable  to  all 
true  devotion.  Correct  views  must  precede  correct  emotions ; 
and  the  soul  can  never  grow  in  grace  save  as  it  grows  in  the 
knowledge  of  Christ.  Ignorance  is  the  mother  of  vice,  and 
can  never  be  associated  as  an  ally  in  man's  spiritual  progress. 
The  very  illuminations  of  the  divine  Spirit  honor  the  truth, 
by  being  always  associated  with  it. 

It  is  the  glory  of  this  Christian  dispensation,  that  the 
gospel  is  preached ;  that  the  priesthood  and  the  rite-per- 
former have  given  place  to  the  ministry  of  reconciliation — 
sent  forth  primarily  not  to  baptize,f  but  to  preach  the  word 
of  life  in  season  and  out  of  season,  reproving,  exhorting,  in- 
structing, that  the  man  of  Grod  may  be  thoroughly  furnished 
unto  all  good  works.     A  Christian  church  will  have  a  care, 

*  1  Peter,  iL  9.  f  1  Corinthians,  i.  17. 


500  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

therefore,  that  in  the  ordering  of  their  public  worshij),  they 
give  the  chief  place  to  the  preaching  of  the  truth  ;  that  they 
put  foremost  that  which  Jesus  and  his  apostles  have  placed 
foremost  ;  that  they  adopt  no  ritual  by  which  this  noblest, 
this  most  characteristic  power  of  the  Christian  dispensation, 
is  prevented  from  having  its  fullest  development,  and  putting 
forth  its  highest  energy.  The  foithful  preaching  of  the  word, 
more  than  all  things  else,  is  connected  with  the  spirituality 
of  the  Church  ;  and  no  matter  how  orthodox  and  correct  may 
be  the  other  parts  of  the  divine  service,  yet,  if  this  be  absent, 
or  if  it  be  degraded  to  an  incidental  and  an  inferior  position, 
or  if  the  pulpit  contradict  the  desl:,  and  that  wliich  is  the 
expression  of  devotion  find  nothing  in  the  instructions  of  the 
sanctuary  by  which  it  may  gain  new  life  and  strength,  then 
piety  will  decline,  and  the  form  of  religion  will  alone  remain, 
as  the  shell  within  which  the  kernel  is  withered. 

But  when  they  have  made  thus  prominent  the  preaching 
of  the  word,  it  will  be  necessary  for  them  to  determine  in 
what  manner  the  other  parts  of  divine  service,  especially  that 
of  prayer,  shall  be  conducted.  Here,  in  these  last  days,  two 
ways  present  themselves.  The  one  is  the  printed  form  ;  the 
other,  the  spontaneous  offering  of  the  heart,  guided  by  the 
intellect,  and  receiving  its  shape  in  the  utterance  of  the  min- 
ister. The  first  selects  the  prayers  of  good  men,  and  repeats 
them,  without  variation,  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  and  from 
year  to  year.  The  second  supposes  that  the  pastor,  if  he 
have  intelligence  and  piety  enough  to  preach,  ought  to  have 
enough  to  lead  the  devotions  of  the  people  in  prayer. 

Without  entering  into  a  protracted  discussion  of  this  sub- 
ject, it  will  be  sufficient,  for  my  present  purpose,  to  jiresent 
a  single  train  of  thought.  True  prayer,  let  it  be  borne  in 
mind,  is  the  most  intimate,  direct,  and  unvailed  communion 
with  God.  It  is  most  perfect  when  the  heart  is  brought  most 
immediately  into  the  presence  of  God,  is  most  entirely  isolated 
from  all  things  else,  and  is  most  fully  absorbed  in  directly 
addressing  Jehovah.  Supposing  always  that  the  views  of  the 
worshiper  respecting  the  being  worshiped  are  correct,  prayer 


PRESBYTERY.  501 

involves  a  direct  application  to  an  invisible  Jehovah,  a  sum- 
moning of  the  whole  man  to  the  most  abstract  and  spiritual 
of  all  works,  a  retirement  from  the  world  of  sense  to  the  world 
of  spirit,  a  bringing  up  from  the  depths  of  the  soul  all  its  wants 
and  all  its  emotions,  and  a  spreading  them  forth  before  the  eye 
of  an  omniscient  and  an  ever-present  Lord.  And  that  mode 
of  prayer  will  demonstrably  be  the  best,  which  most  effectually 
accomplishes  these  objects  ;  not  that  which  produces  a  vague 
present  impression,  not  that  which  most  easily  seizes  hold  of 
the  senses,  not  that  which  does  away  with  the  necessity  for  a 
personal  application  of  the  mind  and  heart  to  the  work  before 
it  ;  but  that  which  shuts  up  the  man  to  this  one  business, 
which  compels  isolation  from  worldly  objects,  and  casts  out 
worldly  thoughts,  which  obliges  the  heart  and  7n{nd  to  engage 
in  it,  which  most  effectually  trai7is  them  for  this  highest  and 
purest  work  of  an  intelligent  spirit. 

To  effect  this  training,  and  accustom  the  spirit  to  rise,  as 
on  eagle's  wings,  heavenward,  and  hold  most  intimate  con- 
verse with  Jehovah,  and  open  to  him  all  the  inmost  man,  we 
are  well  assured,  from  a  wide  and  protracted  experience  of  the 
Church  in  different  ages,  the  habit  of  extempore  prayer  is 
gi'eatly  more  powerful  than  the  constant  use  of  a  printed  form. 
In  the  former  case,  the  eyes  are  closed  to  all  external  objects 
of  attraction,  and  the  mind  stimulated  to  apply  itself  exclu- 
sively to  the  one  great  business  of  supplication.  And  though, 
at  the  first,  as  a  child,  learning  to  walk,  will  have  many  a 
fall,  the  Christian  will  find  the  law  of  mental  association 
exposes  him  to  the  intrusion  of  unwelcome  and  diverting 
thoughts  ;  yet,  as  he  carries  forward  this  spiritual  discipline, 
he  will  attain  a  more  perfect  command  of  his  intellect,  and  an 
ability  to  abstract  himself  from  all  earthly  concerns.  There 
is,  in  this  habit  of  extempore  prayer,  a  far  greater  power  of 
isolation — of  gathering  about  the  soul,  in  the  midst  of  a  mul- 
titude, the  conscious  presence  of  Jehovah,  and  the  awful  real- 
ities of  another  world,  than  can  be  attained  in  any  other  way. 
With  but  one  sense  open  to  the  world,  and  that  fully  occu- 
pied with  the  voice  of  prayer,  the  suppliant  follows  the  gen- 


502  OCCASIONAL     SEHMONS. 

eral  course  of  tlie  petition,  rising  with  it,  adding  to  it,  and 
applying  it  to  his  own  case,  as  his  feelings  and  conscious 
wants  dictate.  If  new  emotions  rise,  if  new  objects  present 
themselves,  he  learns  how  to  incorporate  them  into  the  more 
public  supplications,  and  bear  them  before  the  mercy-seat  in 
the  chariot  of  his  mute  petition.  Quickened  by  the  living 
voice,  uttering  the  spontaneous  emotions  of  the  Heart,  in  lan- 
guage shaped  by  feeling,  and  penetrated  with  it  to  an  extent 
rarely  attained  in  the  use  of  a  stereotyped  form,  he  pours 
forth  the  fullness  of  his  own  heart.  He  prays  as  did  Paul  on 
the  sea  and  amid  the  tempest,  as  did  Christ  in  Gethseraane, 
as,  without  a  question,  did  the  whole  company  of  apostles 
and  early  Christians  ;  in  secret,  he  presents  his  own  j^etitions 
as  they  rise  in  his  soul ;  in  public,  he  uses  the  prayer  and 
voice  of  the  pastor  as  an  assistant  and  guide,  but  not  as  a 
substitute. 

When,  however,  we  use  a  forin^  and  that  is  repeated  by 
many  voices,  and  is  also  broken  up,  so  as  to  involve  frequent 
changes  of  posture,  then  we  multiply  the  sources  of  distrac- 
tion ;  we  open  the  eyes  to  read,  the  most  unnatural  mode  of 
prayer,  giving  the  world  another  inlet  to  the  soul ;  w^e  bring 
a  work  of  art  between  us  and  God  ;  we  accustom  ourselves  to 
lean  on  it.  It  is  ultimately  flxr  more  difficult  for  the  soul  to 
isolate  itself,  and  hold  perfect  spiritual  communion  with  the 
Invisible,  than  when  the  senses  are  closed  to  all  without,  and 
spirit  with  spirit  holds  its  unseen  and  silent  converse.  The 
form  aggravates  the  tendency,  always  strong  in  the  human 
heart,  to  descend  from  the  spiritual  to  the  formal.  Nothing 
can  permanently  hold  back  the  spirit  from  this  degeneracy, 
aside  from  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  well  as  the 
inwrought  habit  of  spiritual,  and  isolated,  and  extempore 
prayer. 

To  the  correctness  of  this  reasoning,  the  world  often  bears 
its  unwilling  testimony.  In  the  formal  style  of  worship,  we 
see  men  of  earth  joining  as  if  they  rendered  an  acceptable  ser- 
vice ;  while,  in  the  other,  they  find  brought  home  to  them  a 
spirituality  to  which  they  are  conscious  of  being  strangers, 


PRESBYTERY.  503 

and  with  which  they  surely  have  no  sympathy.  It  is  a  work 
too  high,  too  spiritual,  to  isolate  themselves  for  tlie  direct 
work  of  prayer,  and  bring  their  spirits  individually  to  the 
throne  of  grace.  It  offends  them  not  to  join  with  a  multitude 
of  voices  in  the  responses  of  a  liturgy,  since  this  obliges  them 
to  undertake  no  work  of  personal  communion  with  Jehovah, 
and  permits  them  readily  to  sink  their  individual  responsibil- 
ity in  the  general  excitement  and  distracting  influence  of  the 
multitude.  And  thus,  however  admirably  a  liturgy  may  be 
arranged,  and  however  beautiful  and  truly  excellent  may  be 
its  parts,  and  however  it  may  assist  the  devotions  of  some 
who  are  already  spiritual ;  yet,  as  a  means  of  training  men  to 
appreciate  the  worship)  of  the  heart  rather  than  of  the  lips, 
of  forcing  home  upon  the  unregenerate  their  lost  and  irrelig- 
ious condition,  of  imparting  to  Christians  the  power  of  ab- 
straction from  the  world,  and  command  over  their  own 
thoughts,  and  the  most  entire  isolation  of  the  soul,  it  is  not 
to  be  compared  with  the  more  natural  and  simple  method  of 
extempore  prayer. 

Third,  in  arranging  their  mode  of  divine  service,  they  will 
make  it  such  as  will  best  adapt  it  to  the  varying  wants  of  a 
congregation.  They  will  not  predetermine  just  what  hymns 
shall  be  sung,  what  portions  of  Scripture  shall  be  read,  or 
what  objects  shall  alone  be  presented  in  j)rayer.  To  do  this, 
is  to  destroy  one  object  in  having  a  pastor  ;  it  is  to  reduce 
him,  so  far  as  these  sei^vices  are  concerned,  to  a  mere  reading 
machine  ;  it  is  to  take  away  all  judgment,  and  consideration, 
and  will  on  these  points,  and  oblige  him  to  follow  an  iron 
rule,  fixed  with  no  reference  to  the  particular  condition  of  the 
congregation  ;  it  derogates  from  the  high  idea  of  an  apostolic 
pastor — of  one  who,  from  his  own  knowledge  of  the  flock,  is 
best  prepared  to  select  subjects  of  discourse  adapted  to  their 
state,  portions  of  the  word,  hymns,  and  psalms  corresponding 
therewith,  while  he  so  shapes  his  prayers  as  to  bring  into  view 
the  different  and  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  charge.  In 
public  jorayer,  as  in  the  preaching  of  the  word,  there  are  some 
subjects  always  appropriate,  yet  there  is  a  wide  range  of  other 


504  OCCASIONAL      SERMONS. 

^iulijects,  which  demand  either  attention,  or  greater  or  less 
prominence,  according  to  the  varying  circmn stances  of  the 
congregation.  There  are  times  of  sorrow  and  of  joy,  times  of 
worldliness  and  of  deep  solemnity,  of  health  and  wide-spread 
sickness,  of  peace  and  war,  which,  as  they  occur,  should  receive 
a  special  attention,  and  modify  the  services  of  God's  house. 

In  arranging  their  mode  of  worship,  that  it  may  most  ef- 
fectually accomplish  the  object  of  its  institution,  this  Chris- 
tian Church  will  not  prescribe  for  the  pastor  such  an  order  of 
things  as  to  forestall  his  judgment,  and  prevent  him  from  se- 
lecting the  means  best  adapted  to  render  his  preaching  effec- 
tual, and  the  service  in  harmony  with  the  condition  of  the 
people.  Influenced  by  these  and  kindred  reasons,  seeing  that, 
with  some  temporary  advantages,  an  elaborate  liturgy  has  so 
many  disadvantages,  and  so  strong  a  tendency  to  formalism — 
■they  reject  it,  and  choose  the  simpler  form  and  order  of  the 
primitive  Church. 

In  the  beginning  of  such  a  Church,  it  is  obvious  that  an 
involved  and  artistically  wrought  service  is  unnatural  and  in- 
appropriate. Guided  by  the  dictates  of  a  jnire  and  simple 
Christianity,  not  yet  aspiring  to  the  inventions  of  the  theater, 
and  the  contrivances  of  art,  they  will  ado23t  the  more  unarti- 
ficial  and  obvious  arrangements  of  the  divine  sendee.  Having 
one  abundantly  able  to  lead  their  devotions,  and  preach  the 
word  of  God,  they  feel  not  the  want  of  the  prayers  or  dis- 
courses of  other  men,  however  wise,  and  good,  and  distin- 
guished they  may  have  been.* 

*  In  these  remarks  it  is  the  author's  design  briefly  to  justify  our  own  prefer- 
ence for  the  simple  form  of  worship,  characteristic  of  our  church,  in  common  with 
most  of  the  other  evangelical  churches.  It  is,  however,  a  matter  worthy  of  the 
serious  reflection  of  those  excellent  men  in  the  Episcopal  church,  who  mourn 
over  the  prevalence  of  a  semi-Papacy  in  large  portions  of  the  church  of  their 
honest  preference  and  filial  love,  whether  the  tendency  thus  manifested  to  adopt 
the  spirit,  and  often  the  form,  of  Popery,  is  not  due,  in  part,  to  the  liturgical 
training  of  the  people,  as  well  as  to  the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration,  in 
the  Prayer-book ;  whether,  had  England  adopted  the  simpler  form,  we  should 
have  seen,  in  the  very  face  of  the  l^eformation,  and  to  the  scandal  of  our  com- 
mon Protestantism,  such  a  return  to  the  practices  of  the  Mother  of  Abominations; 


PKESBYTERY.  «  505 

We  have  now  traced  the  progress  of  this  company  of  be- 
lievers, in  the  organization  of  a  visible  church,  until  we  find 
them  possessed  of  a  creed,  a  pastor,  and  a  definite  order  of 
divine  worship.  But  as  they  increase,  the  necessities  of  their 
condition  will  oblige  the  creation  of  other  offices.  The  time 
will  come,  when  a  house  of  worship  must  be  erected,  and  the 
secular  concerns  of  the  church  will  demand  the  special  atten- 
tion of  individuals  qualified  to  manage  them.  Provision 
must  be  made  for  the  administration  of  the  ordinances  and 
the  temporal  support  of  the  pastor.  Meanwhile,  as  numbers 
increase,  there  will  rise  up  within  the  church  itself  those  who 
stand  in  need  of  its  support  and  guidance  ;  those  whom  sick- 
ness, and  bereavement,  and  the  reverses  of  business,  have  de- 
prived of  the  ability  to  sustain  themselves  ;  widows  and 
orphans  to  be  nourished  with  fraternal  tenderness,  and  guided 
with  parental  wisdom,  and  cared  for  as  members  of  the  body 
of  Christ. 

To  attend  to  all  these  interests  systematically  and  thor- 
oughly ;  to  deliver  the  pastor  from  the  weight  of  secular 
concerns,  and  the  church  from  the  odium  of  not  caring  for 
her  own  membership,  it  is  found  necessary  to  choose  good  and 
able  men,  accustomed  to  such  things,  to  act  for  the  church  as 
its  stewards,  to  collect  and  disburse  the  offerings  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  maintain  thus  a  system  of  relief  and  support,  befit- 
ting brethren  bound  to  bear  each  other's  burdens,  and  look 
not  on  their  own  things  alone,  but  on  those  of  others.  Thus 
will  the  order  of  Deacons,  or  secular  ministers,  arise — an  order 
not  instituted  to  preach,  nor  to  be  a  stepping-stone  to  the 
pastoral  office  ;  not  an  order  of  mere  licentiates,  the  heirs- 
expectant  of  a  priestly  office,  or  a  prelate's  seat — but  an  ex- 
clusively secular  order,  elected  and  instituted  to  manage 
finances,  and  care  for  widows  and  orphans,  and  minister  to 

whether,  iii  short,  the  Liturgy  does  not  train  the  people  to  a  stylo  of  worship 
which  prepares  many  minds  for  the  ascendency  of  Popery  itself  It  is  not  in  the 
spirit  of  controversy,  but  as  a  subject  worthy  at  least  of  examination  by  tho 
fiiends  o^"  tho  Redeemer  in  that  branch  of  tho  Church  of  Christ,  that  this  sugges- 
tiou  is  made. 


506  OCCASIONAL    SERMONS. 

the  jioor,  and  supply  for  the  church  that  department  of  its 
internal  police  without  which  it  would  be  obviously  defective, 
but  with  which  it  becomes  the  most  efficient  organization  in 
the  world,  for  the  relief  of  the  distressed  and  the  elevation  of 
the  poor.-'-" 

If,  now,  we  could  suppose  this  company  of  professed  dis- 
ciples to  be,  in  the  main,  perfect  in  the  exercise  of  Christian 
feeling,  and  the  exhibition  of  Christian  character,  we  might 
leave  them  to  live  and  grow,  and  spread  abroad  their  influence 
in  the  world.  But,  instead  of  this,  it  is  a  confessed  fact  that 
these  men  are  all  imperfect ;  that  some  of  them,  in  all  proba- 
bility, are  not  at  heart  true  disciples  ;  that  no  external  organ- 
ization can  wholly  prevent  the  occurrence  of  offenses  against 
the  purity  of  the  Church  and  the  law  of  Christ.  Amid  the 
temptations  of  the  world,  and  the  still  unvanquished  corrup- 
tions that  cling  to  our  fallen  nature,  the  professed  Christian 
lives  ;  and  it  will  not  be  strange  if  occasionally  not  only  the 
bounds  of  Christian  propriety,  but  the  clear  and  stern  com- 
mands of  Jesus,  should  be  overleaped.  But  when  the  offense 
arises ;  when  the  law  that  upholds  the  purity  and  life  of  the 
Church  is  broken  ;  when  the  name  of  Jesus  is  openly  dishon- 
ored by  his  avowed  disciples,  a  question  at  once  arises,  most 
serious  in  its  character,  and  large  in  its  influence  for  good  or 
evil,  as  it  is  answered. 

Not  to  regard  the  offense  at  all,  to  neglect  all  discipline, 
is  to  throw  down  the  walls  of  the  visible  Church,  to  make  the 
outward  and  formal  body  of  Christ  the  abode  of  demons  ; 
and  as  men  are  gi-eatly  influenced  by  that  which  is  visible — 
by  the  sight  of  a  visibly  pure  church — to  recognize  the  reality 
of  religion,  so,  to  destroy  that  visibility,  is,  with  the  multi- 
tude, to  destroy  religion,  and  nullify  one  of  the  strongest  in- 
fluences for  the  conversion  of  men.  How,  then,  and  by  whom 
shall  discipline  be  conducted,  and  the  offender  tried  ?  Shall 
\h.&  pastor  be  judge  and  jury  ?  But  this  is  to  make  the  min- 
istry a  despotism  and  the  minister  a  despot ;  it  is  to  intrust 
a  power  to  an  individual  which  he  is  very  liable  to  abuse. 

*  Pliilippians,  L  1 ;   1  Timothy,  iii.  13-15;  Acts,  vL  1-6. 


PRESBYTERY,  607 

All  jDOwer  is  open  to  abuse  ;  but  the  experience  of  the  world 
has  shown  that,  in  these  cases  of  public  concern,  there  is  a 
peculiar  liability  to  such  abuse,  when  it  is  centered  in  a  single 
individual.  Besides,  the  offense  may  respect  the  pastor  him- 
self, or  those  for  whom  he  feels  a  special  sympathy  ;  so  that 
he  is  apparently  incapacitated,  by  his  position  and  relations, 
from  sitting  as  sole  judge  in  the  case.  For,  however  honest 
and  upright  he  may  be,  yet,  sharing  in  the  imperfection  of 
all  Christians,  he  is,  like  them,  not  insensible  to  temptation, 
nor  above  all  unhappy  bias.  Theoretically  there  is  no  more 
beautiful  system  of  law  than  that  which  combines  all  the  at- 
tributes of  sovereignty  in  the  single  man  ;  but  in  this  world, 
and  among  the  imperfect,  none  has  proved  more  thoroughly 
opposite  to  the  highest  welfare  of  the  race. 

Shall,  then,  the  members  of  the  church,  in  full  assembly, 
resolve  themselves  into  a  court,  and  administer  discipline  ? 
To  this  there  are  strong  objections.  If  the  one  man  is  liable 
to  be  swayed  by  feelings,  and  blinded  by  prejudice,  this  is 
equally  true  of  a  multitude.  A  popular  assembly,  unaccus- 
tomed to  judge  of  evidence,  impatient  of  that  slow  and  care- 
ful process  indispensable  oftentimes  to  the  full  elucidation 
of  the  facts,  is,  besides,  peculiarly  susceptible  to  false  im- 
pressions from  the  plausible  and  ingenious  advocate,  and 
greatly  exposed  to  be  swayed  by  impulse  and  momentary 
feeling.  Not  unfrequently  the  process  of  a  public  trial  before 
such  a  court  engenders  deep  and  lasting  divisions,  arrays  the 
members  of  it  in  a  partisan  struggle,  and  breathes  into  them 
a  spirit  of  strife  infinitely  worse  than  the  original  offense. 
There  are  cases  where  it  is  essential  to  the  interests  of  justice 
and  righteousness,  that  long,  minute  and  painful  examina- 
tions should  be  gone  through  ;  where  many  witnesses  must 
be  examined,  and  the  law  of  evidence  studied  and  applied 
most  carefully,  before  a  just  conclusion  can  be  reached. 
There  are  cases  involving  scenes  wholly  unfit  for  a  public 
investigation,  on  which  none  but  those  who  are  compelled  by 
duty  should  attempt  to  look.  As  a  trial  proceeds  before  a 
popular  assembly,  if  it  be  much  protracted,  it  will  often  hap- 


508  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

pen  that  all  can  not  be  present  through  its  continuance,  and 
the  question  may  come  at  last  to  be  decided  by  many  who 
have  heard  only  a  portion  of  the  evidence,  or  by  a  part  only 
of  the  body. 

Now,  when  you  consider  that  a  true  church  of  Christ  will 
embrace  minds  of  every  variety  of  intelligence,  here  and  there 
one  admirably  prepared  to  grapple  with  the  difficulties  of 
discijDline,  while  the  mass,  by  their  previous  pursuits  are  un- 
fitted for  this  important  work ;  when  you  consider  the  ease 
with  which  a  popular  body  may  be  swayed,  and  its  passions 
appealed  to,  and  decisions  the  most  unjust  attained  ;  when 
you  see  how  easily  the  most  trifling  offense  may  give  rise  to 
parties,  and  destroy  the  peace  of  the  church;  when  you  know 
how  difficult  it  is  to  bring  a  large  number  of  persons,  engaged 
in  their  own  pressing  pursuits,  to  give  the  time  and  attention 
necessary  to  master  a  difficult  case  ;  when  you  are  sure  that 
some  of  these  offenses  are  of  a  nature  the  details  of  which  it 
is  a  temptation  and  a  shame  to  spread  before  a  public  assem- 
bly— when  you  consider  all  these  aspects  of  a  purely  congre- 
gational discij)line,  you  will  not  w^onder  if  this  church  of 
which  we  are  speaking  should  seek  for  some  other  mode  of 
trying  offenses,  and  securing  general  purity  and  order.  Slie 
might  be  told,  indeed,  that  her  members  must  be  supposed 
to  be  honest,  though  imperfect ;  that  by  this  process,  they 
would  be  trained  to  intelligent  action  and  a  just  judgment. 
In  answer  she  might  say  :  "  The  very  necessity  of  discipline 
shows  om*  liability  not  only  to  err,  but  to  sin;  while  our  honesty 
of  pui'jiose  does  not  secure  us  either  the  requisite  intelligence, 
the  freedom  from  the  impulses  of  passion,  or  insensibility  to 
the  sight  of  corruption  ;  while,  as  a  church,  we  are  in  a  state 
too  variable,  and  the  responsibility  is  too  generally  diffused, 
ever  to  lead  us  to  indulge  the  Utopian  anticipation  of  seeing 
the  multitude  fully  qualified  for  such  a  work  as  this." 

Wherever  true  freedom  has  advanced  in  the  world,  it  has 
fled  alike  from  the  despot  and  the  town  meeting,  as  judge  and 
jury  ;  it  has  created,  as  its  chief  triumph  and  mightiest  bul- 
wark of  human  rio;hts,  a  tribunal  combinius:  the  intellis::ent 


PRESBYTEEY.  509 

understanding  of  law,  the  practical  sense  that  judges  of  nlat- 
tei-s  of  fact  with  as  much  cool  independence  and  impartiality 
of  feeling  as  can  well  be  attained  by  any  system  which  fal- 
lible men  are  to  work.  That  tribunal,  in  all  states  where 
true  freedom  exists,  is  not  the  public  assembly,  however  it 
may  be  distinguished  for  honesty  and  patriotism  ;  it  is  not 
the  single  judge  or  the  solitary  monarch,  however  incorrupti- 
ble and  wise  he  may  be  supposed  to  be.  It  is  the  judge  and 
the  select  jury,  set  apart  for  a  special  work,  sworn  to  ad- 
minister the  law  and  judge  of  the  evidence  according  to  truth 
and  righteousness.  This  tribunal  combines  the  highest  quali- 
ties for  the  best  administration  of  justice.  It  is  the  result  of 
the  experience  of  ages  ;  is  the  noblest  jewel  wrenched  from  the 
hand  of  absolute  power,  and  set  in  the  coronal  of  freedom. 
Yea,  it  is  more  than  a  jewel,  an  ornament  of  splendor  ;  it  is 
the  strongest  barrier  against  the  encroachments  of  the  sov- 
ereign on  the  one  side,  and  the  licentiousness  of  the  popular 
assembly  on  the  other  ;  against  the  intolerance,  and  the  am- 
bition, and  the  pride  of  the  first,  and  the  prejudice,  and  pas- 
sion, and  haste  of  the  second. 

Now,  the  body  of  brethren  before  us  see  open  to  them  one 
of  three  courses.  They  may  retain  all  discipline  in  their  own 
hands,  or  commit  it  to  the  pastor,  or  select  a  few  of  their  own 
number,  known  to  be  intelligent,  devoted,  impartial  and  act- 
ive, who,  in  conjunction  with  the  pastor  as  their  chairman, 
shall  be  solemnly  bound  to  administer  it  according  to  the 
rules  which  the  church  shall  adopt — rules  framed  to  secure 
the  rights  of  individuals,  and  guard  against  ojDpression. 
Aside  from  the  difficulties  attending  the  first  two  methods 
of  discipline,  they  find  in  this  third  body  a  tribunal,  approved 
by  the  ex})eriencc  of  ages  ;  by  which,  without  noise,  or  con- 
fusion, or  party  strife,  the  necessary  arrangements  can  readily 
be  made,  and  the  case  patiently  tried.  They  know  that  men 
thus  selected  will  usually  be  less  subject  to  the  impulses  of 
passion  and  sympathy  than  a  popular  assembly  ;  that  they 
will  become  accustomed  to  judge  of  evidence,  and  acquire  a 
facility  in  the  dispatch  of  business  ;  that  as  it  is  their  appro- 


510  OCCASIONAL     SEKMONS. 

priate  business,  they  will  be  far  more  likely  to  see  that  dis- 
cipline is  duly  administered  than  when  it  is  left  to  every 
member  of  the  church  ;  that  they  can  more  easily  heal  diffi- 
culties in  their  origin,  and  bring  back  the  wandering  by  the 
very  quietness  with  which  they  proceed  ;  that  they  will  be 
able  to  conduct  trials  which,  if  made  public,  will  contaminate 
rather  than  purify,  in  a  manner  to  save  the  church  from  an 
oftense  greater  than  the  original ;  that  they  can  give  a  more 
patient  and  protracted  attention  to  difficult  cases,  demanding 
nice  discrimination  and  a  knowledge  of  the  law  of  evidence 
than  could  possibly  be  given  in  a  crowd  of  church  members. 
Moreover,  they  know  that  a  popular  assembly  is  only  in  a 
loose  sense  a  government,  and  that  all  such  bodies  must,  in 
any  case,  provide  executive  officers  who  shall  prepare  the 
business,  and  afterwards  supervise  the  execution  of  their  de- 
crees. It  is  a  matter  of  fact  that,  when  the  discipline  is 
retained  in  such  an  assembly,  yet  to  render  it  effectual,  the 
principal  part  of  it  is  often  delegated  to  individuals  and  com- 
mittees selected  for  the  purpose. 

With  these  views,  they  resolve  to  elect  a  board  of  elders 
for  the  administration  of  discipline  and  government,  as  the 
tribunal,  above,  all  others,  most  conservative  of  their  liberties, 
and  best  adapted  to  promote  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the 
church.  In  this  body,  the  pastor  sits  simply  as  moderator 
and  expounder  of  the  law,  on  a  perfect  equality,  in  respect  to 
discipline,  with  all  the  other  members — all  are  overseers,  bish- 
ops, presbyters,  elders  ;  combining  the  intelligence  of  the  min- 
istry with  the  intelligence  and  practical  tact  and  general  knowl- 
edge of  the  laity.  To  this  body  the  church  commits,  not  only 
the  general  discipline  of  the  house  of  God,  but  the  admission 
of  new  members,  and  all  such  other  matters  as  to  them  may 
seem  best.  In  the  absence  of  the  pastor,  it  is  usually  incum- 
bent on  them  to  see  that  his  place  is  properly  filled,  by  ap- 
pointing either  one  of  their  own  number  or  some  other  person 
to  that  duty.*    In  this  manner,  the  general  aiTangements  for 

^-  1  Timothy,  v.  17;  Acts,  xv.  25;  xx.  28;  Romans,  xii.  7,  8;  1  Corinthiaua, 
xii.  28  ;  Ilebrosvs,  xiii.  17  ;  1  Thessalonians,  v.  12.    ■ 


PRESBYTERY.  511 

■worship  and  discipline  are  most  effectually  secured ;  and  we  . 
see  the  visible  church  rising  before  us  in  the  order  and  har- 
mony of  the  human  form,  with  an  erect  and  healthful  trunk, 
and  limbs  to  execute  its  purposes,  while  Christ  is  its  glorious 
Head.  It  is  neither  body  alone,  nor  feet,  nor  hands  alone  ; 
but,  by  the  proper  casting  of  parts  and  division  of  offices, 
every  member  hath  some  special  work  assigned  him,  in  the 
performance  of  which  the  whole  body  maketh  increase  unto 
the  edifying  itself  in  all  Christian  graces.  Here  is  a  company 
of  believers,  who  thus,  advancing  stej)  by  step  in  the  path  of 
mutual  edification,  at  length  perfect  their  organization,  with 
direct  reference  to  their  felt  wants,  and  stand  forth  before  the 
world  a  full-grown  church  of  Christ. 

We  have  thus  seen  the  rise  of  a  single  church.  We  view 
it  attaining  as  complete  an  organization  for  the  great  purposes 
designed  as  could  well  be  while  standing  by  itself.  We  are 
now  to  take  it  out  of  this  isolation,  and  introduce  it  to  other 
churches  which,  in  like  manner,  have  sprung  up  around  it. 
Now,  very  much  the  same  causes  which  operated  to  form  a 
single  church  will  impel  these  churches,  as  their  numbers  mul- 
tiply, to  unite  for  the  accomplishment  of  certain  objects,  and 
the  prevention  of  certain  evils,  for  which,  while  independent, 
they  are  not  fully  adequate.  The  presence  of  other  churches 
alters  the  position  of  the  church  whose  progress  we  have  thus 
far  traced,  and  obliges  it  to  determine  in  what  way  they  are 
to  be  treated.  As  yet,  they  are  comparatively  ignorant  of  each 
other  ;  they  feel,  however,  a  common  want — the  want  of  gen- 
eral fellowship  and  combination  against  the  world  ;  they  feel 
that,  in  the  operation  of  their  independent  organizations,  there 
are  some  evils  and  defects  which  a  more  general  union  might 
remove  or  sup})ly.  Impelled  by  these  views,  the  cliurches 
within  a  convenient  distance  agree  to  a  mutual  conference  for 
the  adjustment  of  some  plan  by  which,  while  their  individual 
efficiency  is  promoted,  they  may  be  able  unitedly  to  accom- 
plish what  surpasses  their  individual  capacity.  By  chosen 
delegates,  tliey  meet  together.  Thejirst  great  principle  which 
they  adopt  is  that  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  all  constitutional 


512  OCCASIONAL     SEKMONS. 

freedom,  the  princijjle  of  representation.  Instead  of  having  an 
association  of  j^astors  alone  to  devise  and  act  for  the  churches, 
they  resolve  that  it  is  important  the  churches  should  be  asso- 
ciated as  well  as  the  pastors  ;  and  to  secure  this  object,  that 
every  church  shall  be  entitled  to  send  a  representative  to  the 
contemplated  body.  While  the  pastor  may  have  his  seat,  the 
church,  through  her  representative,  must  also  have  her  seat. 
If  measures  are  to  be  adopted  and  j)lans  laid  that  are  to  aifect 
the  interests  of  all  the  churches  ;  if  a  union  is  to  be  formed 
available  for  the  purposes  desired  ;  if  it  is  to  be  any  thing 
more  than  a  loose,  irresponsible  body,  without  efficiency,  and 
without  consideration,  then  it  is  a  fundamental  principle  that 
each  church,  however  few  in  number  or  weak  in  influence,  shall 
not  only  have  her  pastor  present,  but  also  her  elder,  through 
whom  she  may  speak ;  by  whom  her  rights  may  be  maintained, 
her  interests  promoted,  and  her  views  declared.  This  princi- 
ple is  fundamental  to  Christian  liberty  in  ecclesiastical  organ- 
izations. Neither  the  ministry  alone  nor  the  laity  alone  can 
form  the  ablest,  freest,  and  most  efficient  organization.  There 
is  in  the  ministry  often  a  tendency  to  dogmatism,  and  in  the 
laity,  sometimes,  an  equally  strong  disposition  toward  the  op- 
posite extreme.  The  union  of  the  two  in  an  ecclesiastical  body 
combines  the  elements  of  healthy  progress  and  a  stable  union. 
The  two  modify  each  other,  and  minister  to  the  strength  of 
the  whole  fabric,  and  adapt  it  more  perfectly  to  its  noble  pur- 
pose. 

Having  thus,  by  a  simple  rule,  settled  the  composition  of 
the  body  that  is  to  serve  as  their  bond  of  union,  they  pro- 
ceed to  define  its  functions  and  powers.  First,  each  of  these 
churches  has  a  distinct  creed  of  its  own.  But,  in  order  to 
harmonious  action,  it  is  essential  that  there  should  be  entire 
confidence  in  the  rectitude  of  each  other's  religious  views. 
The  same  necessity  which  compels  the  adoption  of  a  creed  in 
the  individual  church  operates  here  with  equal  force.  They 
agree,  therefore,  upon  the  terms  of  communion,  they  adopt 
the  same  general  confession  of  faith.  This  at  once  creates  uni- 
formity of  belief  throughout  the  entire  circle  of  associated 


PRESBYTEKY.  513 

churches.  Members  may  pass  from  one  to  the  other  without 
hesitation  ;  and  the  fellowship  of  a  Christian  household  be  felt 
and  cherished  by  all.  As  these  churches,  when  isolated,  are 
liable  to  suffer  from  the  efforts  of  crafty  and  designing  men, 
who  privily  would  bring  in  damnable  heresies,  lead  astray  the 
weak,  and  cause  multitudes  to  swerve  from  the  faith,  so,  to 
assist  them  in  resisting  such  efforts,  these  churches  grant  to 
their  own  rej^resentatives,  in  presbytery  assembled,  a  super- 
visory power — a  right  to  inspect  their  state,  and  admonish 
them  of  the  wrong,  and  correct  such  evils  of  this  kind  as  may 
exist.  They  do  not  in  this  create  a  tyranny,  but  a  legitimate 
government,  in  which  they  are  all  represented,  in  which  the 
finest  elements  of  freedom  are  happily  combined.  They  unite 
in  presenting  a  broader  front  to  the  advances  of  error,  and  re- 
pelling those  who  seek  to  destroy  their  original  terms  of  com- 
munion, and  so  turn  them  from  the  faith. 

Second,  it  is  found  that  their  mode  of  ordaining  the  min- 
istry of  the  gospel,  however  legitimate  in  itself,  is  yet  con- 
nected with  many  and  great  inconveniences.  Ordination  is 
the  recognition  of  certain  qualifications,  given  by  Christ  for 
the  ministry,  and  the  solemn  setting  apart  of  an  individual 
thus  gifted  to  that  high  office.  It  has  in  it  no  "  opus  opera- 
tum" — it  does  not  bestow  the  grace  and  sanctity  necessary  to 
the  discharge  of  this  office  ;  it  recognizes  them  as  already,  in 
a  good  measure,  possessed  ;  it  beholds  a  man  whom  Christ 
has  set  apart  to  the  ministry,  and  it  gives  the  sanction  of  the 
ordaining  power  to  the  exercise  of  these  ministerial  gifts,  in 
all  the  appropriate  duties  of  tliis  great  work.  Now,  it  is  ob- 
vious that,  while  a  church  may  ordain  a  man  for  itself,  and 
recognize  him  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  and  clothe  him  with 
authority  for  that  purpose,  so  far  as  she  is  concerned,  yet  the 
validity  and  authority  of  his  ordination,  beyond  her  pale,  will 
be  in  exact  proportion  to  the  estimate  in  which  she  is  held  as 
a  church,  and  to  the  qualifications  which  manifestly  exist  in 
the  person  she  has  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  In 
other  words,  it  is  only  so  far  as  her  authority  to  ordain  is 
recognized,  that  such  an  ordination  will  be  respected  and  held 

33 


514  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS 

as  valid.  But  the  independent  church  is,  perhaps,  weak  and 
small,  composed  of  those  who  are  not  particularly  qualified 
to  pronounce  upon  the  qualifications  of  a  candidate  for  the 
ministry.  Unaccustomed  to  the  work,  and  with  no  special 
or  known  qualifications  for  it,  she  selects  the  future  preacher 
of  the  gospel,  and  ordains  him  to  that  office,  and  sends  him 
forth  to  preach.  Now,  who  is  to  recognize  this  man  as  a 
minister,  beyond  the  churcli  that  has  commissioned  him  ? 
Of  this  church  little  has  gone  abroad,  and  what  is  known  is 
for  from  inspiring  confidence  in  any  ordination  of  hers.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  out  of  her  bounds  her  regularly  or- 
dained minister  derives  no  authority  from  his  ordination, 
ceases  to  be  regarded  as  a  minister,  just  as  truly  as  a  Pres- 
byterian or  an  Episcopal  bishop  is  not  recognized  as  such  in 
the  Vatican.  His  influence  is,  consequently,  limited  ;  and  it 
may  be  long  before  he  will  be  able,  amid  such  disheartening 
circumstances,  to  commend  himself  to  the  Church  at  large, 
by  the  actual  demonstration  of  the  existence  in  him  of  the 
sterling  qualifications  of  a  minister  of  Christ.  Besides,  an 
individual  church,  in  addition  to  her  want  of  a  wide-spread 
influence  and  a  power  to  commend  her  ordinations  to  those 
without  her  limits,  may  not  find  among  her  own  number  one 
■^hojn  she  thinks  really  called  of  God  to  this  ministry ;  while 
another  church  may  have  a  dozen  endowed  preeminently  with 
all  the  gifts  and  graces  essential  to  this  high  office.  It  is, 
therefore,  exceedingly  desirable  that  the  authority  to  ordain 
ministers  of  the  gospel  should  be  vested  in  a  body  of  such 
character  and  influence,  and  in  such  relation  to  a  considera- 
ble body  of  churches,  as  will  enable  them  to  select  the  most 
suitable  candidates,  and  cause  their  ordination  to  be  generally 
recognized  and  respected  among  them  and  the  world.  For 
this  purpose,  it  is  determined  that  this  representative  body 
of  their  pastors  and  ciders  shall  take  upon  themselves  the  re- 
sponsibility of  selecting  and  licensing  such  men  as,  in  their  own 
judg-ment,  possess  the  chief  qualifications  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  But  in  order  to  secure  the  judgment  of  the  Church 
at  large  upon  their  qualifications,  except  in  rare  cases,  they 


PRESBYTERY.  515 

are  not  at  once  ordained.  They  are  sent  forth  to  preach  as 
probationers,  to  be  proved  in  the  pulpit,  to  be  tested  in  the 
actual  work  of  the  ministry ;  and  when  the  churches  have 
borne  their  testimony  to  the  fitness  of  these  candidates  for 
thi-s  office,  or  when  individual  churches  shall  desire  their  ser- 
vices, they  are  then  solemnly  ordained  as  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  But  should  it  be  ascertained  that,  through  infirmi- 
ties of  sj^irit,  or  great  deficiency  in  ministerial  gifts,  tliey  were 
not  acceptable  to  the  people,  and  not  adapted  to  be  useful  in 
that  sphere  of  labor,  then  their  licensure  is  recalled,  and  they 
fall  back  into  another  department  of  Christian  duty.  In  this 
manner,  these  confederated  churches  propose  to  secure  for 
themselves  an  able,  devoted  and  successful  ministry — a  min- 
istry that  shall  bear  the  commendation  of  their  united  wis- 
dom, and  command  the  recognition  and  respect  of  those  who 
are  without.  Meanwhile,  as  learning  is  to  be  associated  with 
piety,  in  order  to  jirepare  men  most  successfully  to  preach 
the  word  of  life,  they  avail  themselves  of  their  united  strength 
to  establish  academies,  colleges,  and  seminaries  of  theological 
science.  Associated,  they  thus  effect  what  is  beyond  the 
power  of  isolated  churches,  and  see  rising  among  them  a  min- 
istry, resplendent  in  its  learning  and  ripe  in  piety,  useful  at 
home,  respected  abroad,  and  prepared  to  extend  the  religion 
of  Jesus  into  the  distant  and  dark  places  of  the  earth.''' 

Having  thus  provided  for  the  increase,  the  ordination,  and 
perpetuity  of  the  ministry,  these  churches  proceed  to  consider 
the  subject  of  a  mutual  discipline.  They  lay  down,  as  funda- 
mental to  their  union,  these  two  principles :  First,  that  every 
member  of  their  body,  be  he  minister,  elder,  deacon,  or  private 
Christian,  shall  be  accounted  innocent  until  he  is  proved 
guilty,  {ind  never  be  cut  off  from  his  connection  with  the 
church,  except  after  a  fo,ir  trial.  Second,  that  in  order  to 
secure  such  a  trial,  all  proper  means  of  defense  shall  be  al- 
lowed, and  the  case  conducted  according  to  known  rules, 
designed  to  secure  the  unfolding  of  the  truth  in  the  fullest 
manner.     These   principles   underlie    all    their  disciplinary 

*  1  Timothy,  iv.  14;    Acts,  xv.  2,  3,  4,  6,  22. 


516  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

arrangements  ;  they  are  the  foundations  for  the  strongest 
ramparts  around  individual  right  and  liberty — foundations 
such  as  the  freest  civil  governments  have  laid,  on  which 
to  erect  the  noble  fabric  of  political  freedom.  In  order  to 
give  the  fullest  effect  to  these  principles,  this  confederated 
church,  jealous  of  power,  knowing  that  the  best  men  may 
err,  and  the  coolest  sometimes  be  partial,  resolve  that,  if  any 
of  her  members  feel  aggrieved  by  the  decision  of  "a  session  ; 
if  he  feels  that,  through  ignorance,  or  partiality,  or  mis- 
take, he  has  been  unjustly  dealt  with,  then  he  may  enjoy 
the  privilege  of  appeal  to  tliis  representative  body  of  min- 
isters and  elders,  in  presbytery  assembled,  for  a  review 
of  his  case.  Nay,  so  large  and  full  is  this  liberty,  so 
solicitous  is  she  that  none  of  her  children  may  wi-ongfully 
suffer,  that  she  permits  a  second  and  a  third  appeal  from  the 
judgment  of  a  local  body  to  a  larger  gathering  of  representa- 
tives, convened  in  synod  or  assembly.  But  while  she  concedes 
to  him  this  privilege,  for  the  more  perfect  attainment  of  jus- 
tice, she  declares  that  he  shall  be  solemnly  bound  by  the  final 
decision — that  he  shall  not  put  his  brethren  to  the  trouble  of 
giving  him  a  full  and  in]  partial  trial,  and  then  treat  the  de- 
cision as  mere  advice,  and  so  make  a  farce  of  ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline before  the  world.  In  this  way  the  privilege  of  appeal 
from  acts  of  prejudice,  or  passion,  or  mistake,  is  granted  in 
the  Church  as  well  as  in  the  State  ;  and  a  person  is  not  com- 
pelled to  suffer  wrong  through  the  unhappy  decision  of  a 
single  church,  or  pastor,  or  session.*    He  may  carry  his  cause 

*  We  once  beard  an  esteemed  clergyman  publicly  argue  in  favor  of  discipline 
by  single  churches,  because,  "  when  a  thing  was  done,  then  it  was  done" — ^an 
argument  as  strong  in  favor  of  despotism  as  the  Neros  and  Napoleons  of  absolute 
monarchy  could  desire.  This  very  fact,  that  when  discipline  is  thus  done,  there 
is  no  retreat  for  injured  innocence,  no  appeal  to  a  less  prejudiced  tribunal,  from 
the  acts  of  haste,  or  passion,  or  ignorance,  is  the  strong  argument  alike  against 
the  decisions  of  a  Judge  Lynch  or  a  Judge  Nero,  of  an  assembled  multitude  or  a 
single  man.  A  despotism,  whether  of  the  king  or  the  people,  is  the  simplest  gov- 
ernment in  the  world.  Liberty  seeks  for  checks  and  balances,  for  the  macliinery 
of  courts,  and  forms,  and  rules,  and  appeals — for  the  utmost  license  of  investiga- 
tion and  review,  and  ai'gument,  that  at  length  the  right  may  stand  forth  in  the 


PRESBYTERY.  517 

from  tliis  lower  tribunal  before  his  brethren  at  large,  who, 
removed  from  the  scene,  may  investigate  it  with  all  the  cool- 
ness of  an  unbiased  judgment,  and  decide  it  in  circumstances 
as  fovorable  for  the  attainment  of  justice  as  ever  exist  in  this 
world. 

In  like  manner,  should  a  pastor  ever  be  chargeable  with 
crime,  or  difficulties  of  a  serious  character  arise  between  him 
and  the  church  of  which  he  has  charge,  then  is  it  part  of  the 
same  general  policy,  that  he  shall  be  tried,  or  the  causes  of 
trouble  investigated,  not  by  the  church  itself,  nor  by  the  ses- 
sion, who,  from  their  relation  to  him,  may  be  in  a  position 
the  least  favorable  for  a  correct  decision  ;  but  by  the  body 
that  holds  the  ordaining  power  by  the  churches  in  their  asso- 
ciated capacity,  by  the  presbytery  of  which  he  is  a  member. 
According  to  that  old  and  just  maxim  of  common  law,  he  is 
to  be  judged  by  his  peers,  and  the  same  privilege  of  appeal 
granted,  as  his  protection  against  an  unjust  and  a  hasty  de- 
cision, which  is  given  to  the  humblest  member  of  the  church. 

I  have  thus,  in  brief,  reviewed  some  of  the  leading  prin- 
ciples and  modes  of  discipline,  according  to  which  these 
Christian  societies  seek  to  aid  each  other  in  maintaining,  un- 
impaired, the  faith  and  liberties  of  the  household  of  faith. 
Thus  associated  together,  they  regard  it  as  a  binding  duty 
they  owe  to  each  other  and  the  world,  by  united  efforts  to 
spread  the  gospel  at  home  and  abroad ;  to  organize  new 
churches,  and  suj^ply  them  in  their  infancy  with  the  preach- 
ing of  the  word  ;  to  guard  against  the  efforts  of  designing 
men,  who  seek  to  introduce  among  them  turmoil  and  strife  ; 
to  give  the  influence  of  their  union  to  all  wholesome  reforms; 
and  in  all  appropriate  ways  to  promote  each  other's  peace, 

clear  sunshine,  and  the  wrong  may  reveal  its  hideous  features.  And  though,  at 
times,  ingenious  wickedness  may  double  and  twist,  and  seek  to  escape  through 
these  salutary  forms,  yet,  in  the  main,  true  freedom  is  maintained,  and  innocence 
vindicated,  and  crime  punished.  It  is  the  glory  of  Presbyterianism  that  it  not 
only  gives  an  accused  member  a  trial,  but  that,  by  a  most  admirable  set  of  rules, 
it  seeks  to  make  that  a  fair  trial ;  and  then,  by  the  right  of  appeal,  it  multiplies 
the  means  for  vindicating  the  right,  and  securing  the  innocent  against  all  wrong. 


518  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

and  build  eacli  other  up  in  the  faith  and  love  and  practice  of 
the  rehgion  of  Jesus.  For  such  objects,  these  churches  agree 
to  this  intimate,  fraternal,  and  ajjostolic  j^lan  of  union.  As 
independent  states,  each  church  has  its  own  rights,  its  own 
territory,  its  own  government ;  as  a  federal  union,  they  are 
so  connected  together  as  to  form  one  larger  state,  united  in 
its  aims,  its  discipHnc,  its  influence,  in  opposition  to  all  that 
is  evil,  and  in  favor  of  all  that  is  good.  They  present  to  the 
world  the  vision  of  a  true  republican  union,  constituted  not 
for  the  aggrandizement  of  the  few,  but  solely  for  the  edifi- 
cation and  usefulness  of  the  many,  that  thus  we  may  more 
efiectually  realize  the  spirit  of  a  Christian  unity,  and  work  at 
greater  advantage  in  fulfilling  the  command  of  our  ascended 
Master,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature. 

Such,  in  its  outlines,  is  the  form  of  that  church  under 
whose  broad  constitution  it  is  our  privilege  to  live,  to  consti- 
tute one  of  whose  higher  courts  we  are  this  day  assembled. 
Behold,  first,  its  order  !  See  how,  in  this  system,  provision 
is  most  fully  made  for  the  regular  and  quiet  progress  of  the 
people  of  God  ;  for  the  orderly  development  of  the  church, 
the  ministrations  and  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  the  training 
uj)  and  ordination  of  an  efiicient  ministry,  the  regular  disci- 
pline of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  the  planting  of  new  churches 
among  the  destitute,  and  the  onward  jirogress  of  a  Christian 
people  in  all  good  works  ;  how  to  each  individual  there  may 
be  some  work  assigned  ;  and  thus,  as  the  several  parts  of  the 
body,  all  work  together  in  promoting  one  end. 

God  loves  not  confusion.  ^^  Let  all  thtiigs  be  done  de- 
cently and  in  order,"  is  a  rule  no  less  essential  in  the  church 
than  in  the  family  and  the  state.  Behc^kl,  then,  the  order  of 
our  house  !  how  beautiful !  how  appropriate !  how  simple, 
yet  how  comprehensive  ! 

Second.  Behold  how  admirably  this  system  conserves 
religious  liberty  !  It  hath  two  great  principles  which  are 
fundamental  to  the  highest  style  of  constitutional  and  repub- 
lican  freedom.      1.    Tlic  principle   of  representation.      All 


PRESBYTERY.  519 

power  goes  up  from  the  churches.  In  hierarchical  and  other 
systems  hostile  to  liberty,  the  power  descends  from  the  min- 
istry to  the  churches.  In  ours  it  ascends.  The  churches 
choose  all  their  own  officers,  elect  their  own  representatives, 
and  have  a  voice  in  all  laws  and  rules  by  which  they  are  to 
be  affected.  The  republican  principle  of  representation  pre- 
vails in  the  constitution  of  all  our  ecclesiastical  bodies  above 
the  original  ordinary  church  meeting.  2.  The  principle,  that 
every  person  is  entitled  to  a  fair  trial  according  to  the  form 
of  liberty  which  the  churches  themselves  have  adopted.  No 
man  can  rightly,  or  constitutionally,  or  legally  be  condemned 
and  cast  out  until  after  a  fair  trial,  in  due  form,  before  his 
peers,  and  after  the  full  privilege  of  appeal  has  been  allowed 
him,  and  all  the  means  of  a  legitimate  defense  have  been  ex- 
hausted. The  poorest  and  the  lowliest  member  of  this  church 
has  here  precisely  the  same  rights  with  the  most  powerful. 
Be  the  offender  a  poor  son  of  Africa,  with  the  brand  of 
centuries  of  oppression  and  degradation  upon  his  body,  he 
has  a  right  to  stand  up  here,  with  the  descendant  of  princes, 
and  enjoy  the  privilege  of  the  same  rules,  and  avail  him- 
self of  the  same  bulwarks  of  defense,  and  call  to  his  aid 
the  same  eloquence  and  force  of  argument  granted  to  his 
more  favored  brothers.  This  strong  refuge  of  liberty  is 
inwrought  into  the  constitution  of  our  church.  Without 
it,  liberty  would  be  a  name,  not  a  fact,  both  in  Church  and 
State.  These  two  principles  of  representation  and  trial  by 
their  own  chosen  jury,  covering  the  rights  of  all  our  mem- 
bership, form  the  abutments'  of  our  ecclesiastical  system.  Let 
either  one  be  removed,  and  its  integrity  is  destroyed-;  it  re- 
mains one-sided,  inconsistent,  and  unable  to  sustain  the  glori- 
ous arch  of  religious  liberty.  This  is  the  finest  discipline  for 
the  education  of  freemen.  A  true  Presbyterian  will  never 
suffer  himself  to  be  defrauded  of  the  rights  of  his  manhood. 
He  learns  here  the  great  principles  of  liberty  ;  they  have  per- 
vaded the  Church  and  breathed  around  the  fireside  from  his 
childhood.  He  has  learnt  to  bow  to  no  ecclesiastical  despot- 
ism ;  he  has  learnt  that  neither  priest  nor  monarch  has  a 


520  OCCASIONAL     SEEMONS. 

right  to  tyrannize  over  his  conscience  ;  that  power  comes  im- 
mediately from  the  Chm'ch,  and  not  from  the  officers  of  the 
Church  alone ;  that  it  is  not  a  company  of  pastors  or  deacons, 
or  any  mere  officials  that  constitute  the  Church,  save  as  they 
may  he  selected  to  represent  and  maintain  her  interests,  but 
that  as  the  members  of  the  body  are  essential  to  its  perfect- 
ness,  so  the  entire  Church,  in  its  most  perfect  state,  embraces 
all  the  members  of  Christ's  house  with  those  whom  they  have 
set  forth  as  their  executives.  Cherishing  such  views,  they 
will  not  brook  either  ecclesiastical  or  civil  despotism  ;  they 
will  go  forth  a  noble  army  of  confessors  without  the  camp  of 
the  oppressor  ;  and,  as  did  Scotland's  chosen  hosts  when  they 
trod  beneath  their  feet  the  jeweled  coronet  of  Victoria  as  the 
emblem  of  a  spiritual  sovereignty,  and  disowned  the  authority 
of  the  State  in  the  house  of  God  as  the  lord  of  their  conscience, 
so  will  their  true  brethren,  the  world  over,  while  respecting 
authority  in  its  legitimate  sphere,  and  loyal  as  any  others  to 
the  constitution  and  the  law,  resist  an  ecclesiastical  or  a  civil 
dictatorship,  and  proclaim  war  against  it  as  the  enemy  of  God 
and  man. 

Third.  Behold  its  efficiency  !  Its  order  and  its  freedom 
are  not  merely  a  theory.  They  do  much  to  form  the  character 
for  active  labor,  for  large  enterprise,  for  intelligent,  steady 
progress.  They  ally  it  with  all  the  elements  of  strength,  and 
reform,  and  purity.  The  general  order  of  the  house  of  Christ 
is  essential  to  the  most  effective  working  of  its  members.  A 
system  such  as  ours  does  not  forestall  individual  action,  and 
throw  the  labor  which  should  be  borne  by  many  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  few.  Instead  of  this,  while  it  secures  general 
order,  and  provides  specifically  for  more  general  wants,  it  yet 
leaves  the  mass  free  to  operate  in  all  the  various  modes  open 
to  them,  iind  for  which  special  gifts  and  graces  may  give  them 
a  peculiar  htness.  It  is  no  more  essential  to  the  development 
of  the  energy  and  life  and  greatest  efficiency  of  a  church,  that 
all  its  members  should  act  as  elders  and  governors,  than  that 
they  should  all  be  pastors  and  deacons  ;  and  the  same  argu- 
ment which  would  commit  the  discipline  of  God's  house  to 


PRESBYTERY.  521 

the  entire  body  of  the  people,  in  order  to  oblige  them  to  labor 
and  increase  their  efficiency,  and  deepen  their  interest  in  the 
church  and  its  operations,  would  abolish  the  ministry  of  the 
deacon  and  the  pastor,  and  so  constitute  the  church  a  body 
without  limbs  and  executive  powers.  Aside  from  the  work 
properly  belonging  to  these  officers,  there  is  a  wide  field  for 
individual  action  in  the  social  meetings,  in  Sabbath  schools 
and  Bible  classes,  in  direct  efibrts  for  the  conversion  of  men, 
in  the  visiting  of  the  distressed  and  the  sick,  and  in  all  the 
various  ways  in  which  an  active  piety  will  seek  to  walk.  The 
committing  of  the  discipline  of  the  church  to  a  board  of  elders 
is  a  great  relief  to  the  body  of  the  church  from  a  business 
little  adapted  to  promote  their  spirituality,  and  which,  by 
absorbing  their  time,  diverts  the  mind  and  heart  from  other 
labors  more  directly  connected  with  the  upbuilding  of  the 
kingdom  of  Jesus.  And  thus  they  are  left  free  to  enter  into 
the  harvest  as  reapers,  and  stimulated  to  fill  up  their  measure 
of  labor  for  the  ingathering  of  souls.  There  is  in  this  om* 
system  as  much  of  stimulus  to  individual  labor,  as  much 
throwing  the  burden  of  responsibility  for  the  onward  ^^rogress 
of  religion  upon  the  entire  membership,  as  wide  an  opening 
for  such  action  as  is  best  adapted  to  promote  the  spirituality 
of  the  church  and  the  salvation  of  men,  as  in  any  other  knowji 
ecclesiastical  constitution.  All  churches,  whatever  be  their 
general  system  of  operation,  are  found  practically  to  depend 
much,  for  their  efficiency,  upon  the  character  of  the  pastor 
and  other  officers  ;  but,  setting  aside  this  great  element  of 
power,  we  have  yet  to  find  the  system  that,  as  a  system,  com- 
bines more  elements  of  real  efficiency  and  power  of  orderly 
development,  and  liberty  of  profitable  action  and  tendencies 
to  build  up  the  people  in  an  intelligent,  progressive  piety  than 
our  own. 

Methodism  owes  its  power,  as  a  system,  to  its  popular 
worship,  free  to  the  extremcst  license,  and  the  stern  discip- 
line of  its  ministry — the  principles  of  freedom  and  of  despot- 
ism, both  in  excess,  yet  combining  so  as  in  a  measure  to  bal- 
ance each   other.      John   Wesley  was  the  most  wonderful 


522  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

master  of  ecclesiastical  strategy,  Loyola  not  excepted,  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  Confessedly,  his  was  not  the  strategy 
of  that  elder  John  whom  the  Lord  so  loved.  Yet,  with  all 
its  antagonistic  ultraisms,  and  its  commingling  of  opposites, 
I  rejoice  in  the  work  which  it  has  accomplished ;  and  while  I 
can  not  regard  it  as  the  system  which  best  suits  the  highest 
state  of  the  Church,  or  which  is  best  adapted  to  build  up  the 
peoj)le  in  the  intelligent  understanding  of  God's  word,  and 
lift  them  to  the  noblest  position  in  social  life,  I  yet  see  before 
it  a  great  work,  and  bid  it  God  speed  in  its  accomplishment. 
The  prelatical  and  liturgical  churches  owe  their  j^ower,  so 
far  as  the  outward  form  is  concerned,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the 
fiction  of  antiquity  and  official  holiness  and  apostolical  au- 
thority ;  on  the  other,  to  their  missals  and  liturgies,  beautiful 
as  mere  works  of  art,  but  not  full  of  the  highest  power  to  un- 
fold the  Christian  life  and  promote  the  spiritual  efficiency  of 
the  membership  ;  the  products  not  of  apostolic  simplicity, 
and  spontaneous,  deep-breathing,  soul-subduing  Christianity, 
in  the  fullness  and  life  of  its  youth,  but  confessedly  created, 
in  the.main,  by  those  ages  when  art  reared  cathedrals,  and 
the  Gregorys  developed  the  science  of  music — when  the  lit- 
urgy, and  the  choir,  and  the  cathedral,  and  the  mass,  and  the 
elaborate  and  gorgeous  ritual  had  all  had  their  grand  devel- 
opment. But  our  efficiency  is  not  of  these  elements ;  it  is 
not  of  these  outward  and  elaborate  works  of  art ;  nor  do  we 
believe  that,  under  such  systems,  the  Church  of  Christ  can 
ever  attain  its  highest  efficiency  or  its  finest  development. 
With  us  there  is  a  simple  worship,  designed  to  train  the  soul 
to  a  close  walk  with  God,  and  give  it  the  power  of  spiritual 
communion  ;  an  order  of  offices  and  arrangement  of  duties 
that  spring  from  the  elements  of  freedom,  yet  fonn  the  best 
guard  against  its  excess,  and  open  the  largest  field  for  indi- 
vidual labor  ;  an  intelligent  ministry,  selected,  not  to  serve 
tables,  but  to  preach  the  gospel  as  its  chief  work  :  these  are 
the  elements  of  our  ecclesiastical  system.  We  rely  most  upon 
the  faithful,  intelligent  preaching  of  the  gosjiel  ;  we  rear  a 
platform  where  the  most  intelligent  may  meet  with  the  hum- 


PRESBYTERY.  523 

blest  and  most  illiterate — where  the  learned  shall  find  that 
which  will  purify  and  refine  his  spirit,  the  unlearned  that 
which  will  elevate  him  to  the  same  position.  We  seek,  in  all 
the  arrangements  of  God's  house,  to  level  upward  ;  to  make 
all  our  children  both  sincere  and  clear-minded  Christians, 
thoroughly  instructed  in  the  faith  ;  to  make  all  men  feel  their 
true  nobility,  their  true  liberty,  the  heirship  to  which  they 
may  attain  on  earth,  and  the  inheritance  to  which  they  may 
attain  in  heaven.  We  claim  not  for  the  discipline  of  x)ur 
church  an  energy  that  will  render  its  professors  superior  to 
all  the  infirmities  of  the  age  in  which  they  may  live  ;  it  is  not 
the  prerogative  of  any  mere  system  to  do  this.  But  we  do 
claim  for  it  an  adaptation  to  the  most  advanced  state  of  so- 
ciety, and  a  fitness  for  elevating  man  and  spreading  abroad 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  equal,  to  say  the  least,  to  any  form  of 
church  government  the  world  has  yet  seen.  Its  labors  for 
the  good  of  man  stand  forth,  and  its  victories  in  behalf  of  all 
that  is  good  have  sounded  abroad  over  the  earth.  Behold 
what  Presbytery  hath  done  for  the  world  !  What  battles  she 
hath  fought  for  liberty  of  conscience  !  for  Christianity  against 
a  rampant  infidelity  !  for  truth  against  the  combined  forces 
of  error  !  for  order  against  the  tumultuous  impulses  of  pojDiu- 
lar  passion  !  for  the  crown  and  cause  of  Christ  against  the 
world  !  Let  her  sons  understand  their  position,  their  priv- 
ilege and  their  power  ;  let  them  avail  themselves  of  all  the 
advantages  which  so  admirable  a  system  has  placed  within 
their  reach  ;  let  them  realize  the  strength  of  their  organiza- 
tion, and  its  noble  tendencies  towards  a  steady  progress,  and 
its  varied  capacity  of  adaptation  to  all  states  of  society  ;  let 
them  see  in  it  a  mighty  bulwark  for  the  Christian  faith,  re- 
sisting, on  the  one  side,  the  shock  of  a  wild  and  stormy  Inde- 
pendency, that  in  its  licentiousness  would  open  wide  all  the 
doors  of  error  ;  and  on  the  other,  the  marshaled  and  trained 
array  of  a  Papal  despotism,  that  would  cover  the  earth  with 
ignorance  and  spiritual  bondage ;  let  them  look  to  it,  not  as 
in  itself  powerful,  but  as  that  which  allows  and  enables  tliem 
to  put  forth  the  highest  degree  of  power  in  the  service  of  their 


524  OCCASIONAL     SEKMONS. 

glorious  Lord  ;  let  them  heed  not  the  false  prophets  and  evil 
diviners  who  cry,  Lo,  here  !  lo,  there  !  but  studying  more 
deeply  the  simplicity  and  freedom  of  their  ecclesiastical  con- 
stitution, let  them  give  to  its  development,  in  the  increase  of 
the  Church  of  Christ,  that  energy  of  heart  and  mind,  which 
the  condition  of  our  land  and  our  position  among  the  other 
evangelical  churches  imperatively  require.  Then  shall  we 
see  results  most  hallowed  and  noble  attending  our  ministry, 
and  our  beloved  church  shall  hold  the  foremost  position  among 
the  hosts  of  the  Lord,  and  lead  the  van  in  the  assault  upon 
the  kingdom  of  darkness  ;  and  to  her  shall  be  gathered  the 
fervor  of  humble  piety,  the  might  of  a  thoroughly  educated 
membership,  the  refinement  of  a  noble  literature,  the  spirit- 
uality of  a  simple-hearted  fliith  in  the  Kedeemer ;  and  mil- 
lions, in  all  parts  of  the  globe,  shall  look  up  to  her  with  affec- 
tion, and  rejoice  in  her  as  the  mother  of  blessings,  rich  as 
heaven,  and  lasting  as  eternity.* 

*  The  progress  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  this  country  has  been  great, 
and  the  work  it  has  accomplished  in  behalf  of  liberty,  of  education,  and  all  the 
elements  of  a  Christian  civilization,  has  been  greater  even  than  its  success  in  tho 
acquisition  of  numbers.  Beginning  late,  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  with  all 
the  South  and  West  opening  before  it,  assisted,  in  part,  by  devoted  men  from 
New  England,  it  has  spread  abroad  through  the  Union,  gathering  into  its  con- 
gregations a  mass  of  intelligent  and  stable  piety,  maintaining  everywhere  the 
character  of  the  ministry  fur  sound  learning  and  simple-hearted  religion,  holding 
iu  chi-ck  the  opposite  tendencies  to  radicalism  and  perpetual  stagnation  of  Meth- 
odism and  prelacy,  thus  rendering  them  both  more  eflBcient  in  evangelizing  men, 
building  up  colleges,  and  academies,  and  schools  with  a  strong  hand,  leading  the 
way  in  aU  genuine  relbrms,  witliout  loosening  itself  from  those  great  principles 
which,  although  old,  are  yet  true,  and  essential  to  the  final  success  of  all  just 
changes ;  and  so  presenting  itself  in  harmony  with  American  republicanism,  as 
more  than  any  other  identified  with  American  institutions,  and  a  fair  represent- 
ative of  the  best  elements  of  American  character. 


XY. 

BACCALAUREATE  DISCOURSE.* 

"  For  the  invisible  things  of  him,  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  are  clearly 
seen,  being  understood  by  the  tilings  that  are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and 
Godhead." — Rouaxs,  i.  20. 

"  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine, 
for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness ;  that  the  man  of  God 
may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works." — 2  Timothy,  iii. 
16,  17. 

"Where  is  the  wise?  where  is  the  scribe?  where  is  the  disputer  of  this 
world  ?     Hath  not  God  made  foolish  the  wisdom  of  this  world  ? 

"  For  after  that,  in  the  wisdom  of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God, 
it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe." — 1 
Corinthians,  i.  20,  21. 

Here  then  are  two  creations,  both  absolute,  both  reveal- 
ing the  invisible  God.  One  expresses  the  divine  thought  in 
material  forms  and  forces  ;  the  other  in  human  language. 
The  first  precedes  the  second  and  is  essential  to  it  ;  we  ad- 
vance from  what  God  has  done,  to  what  he  has  said.  The 
intellect  that  first  speaks  through  the  material,  then  speaks 
through  man's  spiritual  nature.  The  second  completes  the 
first  ;  it  carries  the  knowledge  of  the  Creator  out  into  a 
larger  sphere  ;  as  a  revelation  it  is  more  definite  and  clear  on 
those  very  points  to  which  the  material  creation  testifies  ; 
but  beyond  this  it  opens  to  us  phases  of  the  divine  character 
and  purpose  which  no  processes  of  human  thought  could  pos- 
sibly attain. 

Now  as  these  two  revelations  proceed  from  the  same  in- 
finite intellect  and  are  given  to  the  same  beings,  it  is  probable 
they  will  bear  a  special  likeness  to  each  other  ;  while  as  the 

*  Delivered  before  the  Senior  Class  of  Hamilton  College,  July  17,  1859. 


526  OCCASIONAL     SEKMONS. 

eecond  is  given  to  supplement  the  first  and  enlarge  the  limits 
within  which  it  reveals  the  Infinite,  so  it  will  bear  on  its  face 
the  evidences  of  this  wider,  grander  and  more  definite  knowl- 
edge of  the  Creator. 

These  are  the  two  lines  of  thought  I  propos3  to  develop 
on  this  occasion. 

The  works  of  God  all  bear  the  divine  impress  ;  the  grain 
of  sand,  the  clod  of  earth,  when  taken  in  connection  with  the 
whole  system  of  creation,  are  full  of  him  ;  the  meanest  as 
well  as  the  noblest  ;  the  insect  that  floats  in  the  air  for  a  day, 
with  man,  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  testifies  to  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  the  Creator.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  the  higher  revelations  of  God  in  his  word  would  not  also 
bear  some  of  the  same  peculiarities  which  reveal  themselves 
so  clearly  in  the  material  creation.  As  we  pass  from  the  ma- 
terial to  the  spiritual — from  that  order  and  law  into  which 
the  divine  Sjiirit  brought  the  chaotic  elements  of  the  world, 
out  upon  that  higher  system  which  the  same  Spirit  brought 
forth  out  of  the  darkness  of  human  intellects,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  impress  of  the  same  mind,  revealing  itself  much  in 
the  same  way,  is  upon  them  both. 

This  argument  from  analogy,  so  well  developed  by  But- 
ler, remains  ever  fresh  and  productive.  I  do  not  design  to 
travel  in  his  footsteps.  I  wish  rather  to  place  in  your  minds 
two  or  three  lines  of  thought  of  a  kindred  nature.  Nor  is  it 
necessary  that  these  should  be  unfolded  with  great  minute- 
ness of  detail.  It  is  better  for  you  to  take  them  as  seed- 
thoughts,  to  germinate  hereafter  in  the  well-cultivated  soil 
of  your  mature  intellect — thoughts  which  entering  now  will 
abide  with  you,  and  which  in  after  life  will  lead  you  out  into 
a  vast  field  of  study,  evi^iy  part  of  it  lustrous  Avith  the  foot- 
prints of  Jehovah  ;  every  part  of  it  univocal,  so  that  from 
the  study  of  nature  and  revelation  you  shall  behold  one  grand 
system,  proceeding  from  an  infinitely  wise  intellect. 

I  wish  also  to  make  this  first  line  of  thought  introductory 
to  the  second  ;  from  that  which  is  analogous  in  nature,  to 
lead  you  up  to  that  which  transcends  nature  ;  to  that  point 


BACCALAUREATE     DISCOURSE.  527 

of  thought  where  the  human  reason,  however  profoundly  it 
may  have  studied  this  material  world,  confesses  itself  utterly 
at  a  loss  ;  where  the  wisdom  of  man  is  seen  to  be  foolishness 
beside  the  wisdom  of  God. 

In  developing  this  subject,  I  ask  your  attention,  first,  to  the 
analogy  which  exists  between  the  method  of  creating  the  world 
for  man  and  the  method  of  preparing  the  Bible  for  man. 
Whatever  interjaretation  you  may  give  to  the  first  chapter  of 
G-enesis,  it  is  obvious  that  creation  was  not  a  single,  nor  an 
instantaneous  act.  The  divine  idea  of  creation  was  in  the 
mind  of  God,  had  been  from  all  eternity,  perfect  in  its  mi- 
nutest details.  But  the  unfolding  of  this  idea  through  the 
material  form,  was  a  process  more  or  less  protracted.  There 
was  an  advance  from  the  lower  to  the  higher ;  there  were 
steps,  distinct  and  clear,  by  which  the  creative  energy  as- 
cended from  the  origination  of  mere  chaotic  elements,  until 
it  crowned  the  series  by  the  formation  of  man.  To  affirm 
this,  we  need  not  endorse  the  speculations  of  the  geologist  or 
the  astronomer.  Long  before  science  in  its  human  form  was 
born,  the  process  of  creation  had  been  traced  in  brief  outline 
by  the  pen  of  inspiration.  And  it  is  only  one  of  the  ten 
thousand  wonders  which,  to  the  thoughtful  mind,  crowd  the 
sacred  volume,  that  man  should  at  this  late  day  be  able  to 
read  in  the  material  record,  substantially  the  same  process  of 
creation  described  by  the  Jewish  legislator  thousand-s  of  years 
before.  Without  pronouncing  at  all  upon  the  various  sub- 
ordinate explanations  of  this  process,  it  is  enough  for  our 
present  purpose  to  know  that  it  was  not  a  single  act,  but  a 
series  of  acts,  stretching  on  through  periods  of  time,  involving 
great  chringes,  all  of  which  bore  directly  upon  the  full  2:)repa- 
ration  of  the  earth  for  the  abode  of  an  immortal  intelligence. 
The  hollowing  out  the  caverns  of  the  deep,  the  lifting  up  of 
the  mountains  on  their  granite  pillars ;  the  channeling  the 
river  courses  ;  the  formation  of  those  mysterious  stores  of 
fuel  which  were  to  replace  the  forests  and  become  subsidiary 
to  the  highest  style  of  civilization  ;  the  fitting  of  the  valleys 
and  prairies  for  the  sustenance  of  a  vast  population,  the  bring- 


528  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

ing  forth  of  vegetable  and  then  of  animal  life  in  all  their  afflu- 
ence of  productiveness,  with  the  grander  mystery  of  that  light 
which  flames  from  the  sun  and  stars  ;  all  this  was  the  product 
not  of  an  instant,  nor  of  a  single  act,  but  of  time  and  various 
acts  perfecting  the  great  work  until  it  came  forth  in  its  con- 
summate goodness  from  the  plastic  hand  of  the  infinite  Crea- 
tor. How  variously  God  wrought  above,  below,  and  around ; 
what  forces  he  quickened  into  existence  and  commissioned  to 
do  his  work  ;  how  silently,  yet  sublimely  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion stones,  and  reared  the  visible  edifice  ujjon  them,  we  in 
part  only  understand.  We  see  distinctly  the  divine  method 
of  i^rocedure  ;  we  mark  the  process  of  creation  ;  means,  vari- 
ous and  new ;  forces,  agencies,  instruments  of  all  sorts  work- 
ing together  in  harmony  with  one  all  comprehending  mind 
and  mighty  will,  through  periods  of  time,  to  bring  forth  a 
complete  creation. 

Now  mark  how  like  to  this  is  the  process  by  which  the 
same  divine  intellect  prepares  his  ivord.  He  might  have 
written  it  with  his  own  hand.  He  might  have  commissioned 
an  angel  to  record  his  will.  He  might  have  inspired  an  Enoch 
in  the  infancy  of  the  race  to  unfold  the  revelation  in  all  its 
parts.  And  then  it  would  have  borne  one  character  ;  the 
style,  like  that  of  the  Koran,  would  have  been  uniform  ;  it 
would  have  been  a  book  of  principles  without  their  illustra- 
tions ;  a  statement  of  truth,  without  a  living  and  varied 
experience.  But  instead  of  this,  he  began  his  work  by  occa- 
sional revelations ;  these,  for  a  time,  may  have  been  preserved 
in  traditions  and  partial  records.  Then,  as  the  world  ad- 
vanced, these  separate  rills  were  brought  into  one  stream  ;  the 
Church,  in  its  organic  form,  was  instituted,  and  the  record 
entrusted  to  it.  Revelations  followed  each  other  to  meet  the 
varying  wants  of  the  Church  ;  they  sprang  out  of  the  neces- 
sities of  a  fallen  race  ;  they  partook  in  their  character  of  the 
experience  of  this  race.  At  length  Jesus  ajjpears  ;  and  with 
the  filling  out  of  the  substantive  parts  of  redemption,  and  the 
instauration  of  the  Church  in  its  noblest  form,  the  gi-eat  rev- 
elation received  its  fullest  development. 


BACCALAUREATE     DISCOURSE.  529 

Now  here,  iu  the  very  method  of  revelation,  in  the  history, 
the  poetry,  the  prophecy,  the  annunciation  of  doctrines,  be- 
hold the  same  mind  that  built  up  the  world  for  the  abode  of 
man — building  up  this  spiritual  edifice,  with  all  its  various 
apartments,  for  the  indwelling  of  the  human  spirit  !  ' 

The  subordinate  processes  differ  because  they  are  designed 
for  different  ends  ;  the  one  class  has  primary  reference  to  the 
body,  and  therefore  it  deals  with  the  material.  The  other  has 
chief  reference  to  the  soul,  and  therefore  it  deals  wholly  with 
the  intellectual.  But  in  both  cases  you  see  the  same  general 
method  of  procedure,  the  same  beginning  with  elements,  the 
same  advancement  by  successive  and  well-ordered  steps,  ac- 
cording to  the  logic  of  infinite  wisdom,  until  at  last  both  re- 
veal themselves  in  their  completed  fitness,  beauty  and  glory. 
Well  may  the  apostle  open  his  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  with 
this  sublime  utterance,  "  God,  who  at  sundry  times,  and  in 
divers  manners,  spake  in  time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the 
])rophets,  hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son, 
whom  he  hath  appointed  heir  of  all  things,  by  whom  also  he 
made  the  worlds."  For  the  same  mind  flashes  through  crea- 
tion and  revelation,  and  in  the  very  method  of  their  construc- 
tion indicates  the  presence  of  the  infinite  intelligence. 

This  thought  leads  us  directly  to  another  of  larger  scope 
and  richer  meaning.  We  pass  from  the  method  of  creation 
to  this  creation  itself — and  here  you  perceive  two  things, 
characteristic  alike  of  the  material  and  of  the  spiritual  reve- 
lation. They  are  both  distinguished  as  more  directly  sub- 
servient to  the  immediate  wants  of  man  ;  secondarily  and 
ultimately  to  his  advancement  in  science.  The  world  is  made 
for  man  in  the  infancy  as  well  as  the  maturity  of  his  intellect. 
It  is  constructed  to  meet  those  wants  which  first  press  upon 
us,  and  which  are  found  in  men  of  all  degrees  of  intellectual 
culture.  The  necessity  for  sustenance — the  means  of  sup- 
porting this  physical  life  are  our  first  want.  And  to  su])ply 
these  the  world  opens  itself  bounteously  on  every  side.  Tlie 
soil,  teeming  with  vegetation,  and  answering  generously  to 
the  hand  that  seeks  for  food  ;  the  fruits  that  nature  garners  ; 

.34 


530  OCCASIONAL      SERMONS. 

the  animals  tliat  rove  at  will ;  the  very  air  and  water  teeming 
with  a  life  destined  largely  to  maintain  our  life,  are  all  man's 
kindly  helpers.  These  nourish  and  feed  his  body  ;  these 
minister  the  materials  for  his  earthly  life.  It  requires  but 
small  development  of  mind  to  gather  the  fruits  of  God's  gar- 
den. The  world  did  not  need  to  wait  for  a  Liebig  to  write  a 
vegetable  chemistry  before  it  could  plow  and  sow  and  reap*. 
Everywhere,  amid  the  frozen  North,  where  the  dwarfed  Lap- 
lander drives  his  deer,  or  the  luxuriant  tropics,  where  the 
hand  of  indolence  plucks  subsistence  from  the  trees  which 
rise  spontaneously,  men  find  the  material  which  supports  life. 
And  this  is  God's  primary  design  in  creation.  He  construct- 
ed the  world  so  that  the  yet  uncultivated  mind  might  readily 
find  support  for  the  body.  He  did  not  build  it  first  for  the 
man  of  enlarged  mind,  leaving  a  ragged  corner  of  it  for  him 
who  is  i2:norant  of  the  liio;lier  truths  of  science.  He  made  it 
with  all  its  beauty  and  its  bounty,  for  man  in  all  stages  of 
culture.  The  wild  Indian  may  plant  his  corn,  and  hunt  his 
deer  ;  the  Esquimaux  may  strike  the  walrus  and  the  seal ; 
"  for  God  opens  his  bountiful  hand  and  supplieth  the  wants 
of  every  living  creature.  Sing  unto  the  Lord  with  thanks- 
giving ;  sing  praise  upon  the  harp  unto  our  God  ;  who  cov- 
ereth  the  heavens  with  clouds,  who  prepareth  rain  for  the 
earth,  who  maketh  grass  to  grow  upon  the  mountains.  He 
giveth  to  the  beast  his  .food,  and  to  the  young  ravens  which 
cry." 

So  the  world  addresses  directly  our  sense  of  the  beautiful 
and  the  sublime.  The  flowers  and  the  waving  trees,  and  the 
green  earth  with  its  varied  outline,  and  the  dome  of  blue 
above  us,  inlaid  with  God's  jewels  or  hung  in  the  drapery  of 
clouds,  are  made  not  for  the  botanist  or  the  poet  alone  ;  they 
appeal  to  all  men  and  waken  new  emotions  in  the  breasts  of 
millions  to  whom  science  is  a  mere  name.  Now  when  you 
turn  to  the  inspired  revelation,  you  see  the  same  design. 
God  wrote  this  book  for  the  multitude.  The  truths  essential 
to  salvation  are  the  simplest  possible.  They  reveal  themselves 
every\vhere  through  these  pages.     In  history,  in  poetry,  in 


BACCALAUREATE     DISCOURSE.  531 

precept,  the  Bible  speaks  to  the  mind  and  heart  of  humanity. 
It  has  a  thousand  voices  for  the  unlearned.  A  man  need  not 
master  conic  sections,  or  study  a  dead  language,  or  be  profi- 
cient in  logic  to  become  wise  unto  salvation.  The  elements 
of  life  are  scattered  so  broadly  over  the  Scriptures,  that  the 
wayfaring  man,  however  weak  his  intellect,  can  easily  master 
them.  Just  as  in  the  material  world,  the  facts  of  creation 
may  seem  to  be  without  order,  a  chaos,  yet  the  means  of  life 
be  enjoyed  to  the  full  extent  of  man's  earthly  wants  ;  so  in 
the  word,  the  grand  powers  that  save  men  are  all  open,  visi- 
ble, easily  enjoyed.  No  matter  how  unable  we  may  be  to 
bring  forth  the  great  system  in  its  consummate  order.  The 
gospel  is  glad  tidings  for  the  poor.  It  Ls  meant  for  man  as 
man  with  all  his  passions  and  emotions,  not  for  man  as  learned 
or  refined.  God's  first  thought  in  the  material  world  is  for 
our  earthly  life  ;  his  first  thought  in  this  written  word  is  for 
the  life  of  his  soul.  And  so  you  see  the  creation  and  the 
revelation  bearing  the  impress,  in  their  primary  design  and 
structure,  of  the  same  infinite  intellect. 

At  this  point,  however,  we  discern  another  striking  an- 
alogy between  creation  and  revelation.  The  luay  in  tvliich 
the  fuller  knowledge  of  both  is  attained,  is  the  same.  God  has 
made  the  world  according  to  a  plan  of  his  own,  and  science  is 
nothing  but  the  discovery  of  this  plan.  Yet  he  has  not  made 
this  a  patent,  open  thing.  It  runs  all  through  creation,  re- 
vealing itself  at  ten  thousand  different  points  ;  and  still  it  is 
hidden  from  the  superficial  observer.  Heaven  and  earth  in 
all  their  parts  are  its  development.  It  connects  the  tree  with 
the  blade  of  grass,  animal  with  vegetable  life,  the  crystal  of 
the  rock  with  the  flowers  and  the  sunlight  ;  it  binds  together 
the  earth  and  the  planets  ;  and  this  whole  system  of  ours  it 
allies  to  the  univer.se.  But  this  plan  of  the  Creator  reveals 
itself  only  to  protracted  investigation,  to  far-reaching  thought, 
to  minds  matured  and  long  disciplined  to  classify  and  reduce 
the  separate  parts  to  the  laws  which  control  them.  The 
beautiful  appeals  directly  to  our  nature  ;  but  to  tell  what  it 
is  that  constitutes  the  beautiful,  to  determine  its  laws  and 


532  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

arrange  its  forms,  this  is  the  reward  of  the  office  of  only  ripe 
study.  Light  and  colors  are  visible  and  full  of  joy  ;  but  the 
world  had  to  wait  for  the  consummate  intellect  of  Newton  to 
analyze  the  sunbeam,  and  detect  the  relation  of  light  and 
color.  So  the  world  is  built  up  without  any  seeming  regard 
to  scientific  arrangement.  Trees,  plants,  animals,  are  dis- 
tributed everywhere  in  apparent  confusion.  The  very  strata 
of  the  earth  oftentimes  are  broken  up,  chronology  is  appar- 
ently set  at  defiance.  There  is  a  wonderful  disarray,  a  strange 
confusion  that  perplexes  and  confounds  the  first  thought  of 
him  who  seeks  to  ascend  to  the  science  of  creation.  But 
wait  awhile  ;  study  awhile  ;  let  mind  busy  itself  to  gather 
into  one  kindred  facts  ;  carry  on  the  process  ;  let  the  point 
to  which  one  intellect  by  vast  toil  has  attained  be  the  start- 
ing point  of  another,  and  then  at  length,  here  and  there,  a 
law  will  be  discovered  ;  here  and  there  order  begins  to  break 
forth  ;  some  one  great  principle  like  that  of  gravitation  is 
seized — a  thousand  chaotic  facts  at  its  command  wheel  into 
line  as  the  servitors  of  science.  And  thus  science  begins — 
advances — triumphs.  It  may  take  the  contribution  of  ages 
of  thought  to  reach  one  grand  discovery  ;  it  may  take  a  hun- 
dred lives  toiling  upward  in  succession  to  reach  the  point 
from  w^hich  the  order  is  visible.  But  once  reached,  it  remains 
for  ever  a  point  of  departure  for  grander  discoveries  ;  a  base 
line  from  which  to  survey  loftier  heights  of  the  creative  wis- 
dom. And  thus  it  must  be  that  the  doctrine  of  a  Cosmos — 
the  vast  })lan  of  creation — shall  result  from  the  profounder 
study  of  the  finest  intellects  reaching  on  through  ages. 

Now  it  is  singular  that  one  of  the  objections  to  the  Bible 
among  men  of  leaniing,  has  been  that  it  is  not  scientific  in 
its  arrangements.  They  have  acted  towards  it  in  the  spirit 
of  the  mathematician  who  threw  down  Milton's  "  Paradise 
Lost"  with  the  contemptuous  expression,  "  it  proves  noth- 
ing." We  admit  that  according  to  our  limited  notions  it  is 
unscientific  in  its  statements  ;  we  admit  that  it  is  not  such  a 
book  as  a  man  of  science  would  have  written.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  such  a  book  as  onlv  the  God  of  creation  would 


BACCALAUREATE     DISGOUKSE.  533 

write.  It  is  thrown  together  just  as  the  world  is — history, 
and  poetry,  and  prophecy  intermingling  ;  sometimes  without 
regard  to  chronology  ;  at  others  with  no  attention  to  the  or- 
dinary rules  of  fine  writing.  Paul  never  writes  as  if  he  were 
Demosthenes  composing  an  oration  ;  John  does  not  discuss 
the  deeper  truths  of  Christian  philosophy  like  Plato  ;  Moses 
does  not  chronicle  the  history  of  the  world  and  the  progress 
of  the  Jews  like  Aristotle  or  Prescott.  There  is  nothing  like 
this  in  the  Bible.  Truth  is  given  here  with  wonderful  con- 
densation and  simplicity  of  statement  ;  thrown  out  in  grand 
masses  like  the  Alps  and  the  Himalayas,  and  then  again  is 
spread  out  in  the  quiet  form  of  history  ;  here  it  bursts  forth 
in  the  bird-like  song  of  David,  and  there  it  thunders  in  Hab- 
bakuk  and  the  revelations  of  the  seer  of  Patmos.  There  is 
no  science  in  it  to  the  first  thought  of  the  explorer.  But  let 
liim  wait  awhile  ;  let  him  study  it  profoundly  ;  let  age 
after  age  contribute  its  treasure  of  illustration  from  history  ; 
let  stalwart  intellects  gather  together  its  facts  ;  and-soon  the 
outlines  of  the  wonderful  })lan  begin  to  appear  ;  we  reach  a 
higher  and  then  a  still  loftier  point  of  vision.  Light  breaks  in 
on  all  sides  ;  we  seize  hold  of  the  great  principle  which  un- 
derlies it,  and  instantly  chaos  resolves  itself  into  order,  and 
the  intellect  of  infinite  wisdom  begins  to  flame  forth  in  unap- 
proachable grandeur. 

Place  a  man  ignorant  of  machinery  in  a  vast  factory,  and 
what  a  puzzling,  confounding  scene  is  all  that  varied  motion. 
But  let  a  mechanician  enter,  at  once  from  the  single  power 
that  impels,  down  to  the  tiniest  spindle  in  its  i-apid  whirl,  the 
order  of  the  whole  reveals  itself.  So  is  it  in  the  world  of  na- 
ture and  of  revelation.  God  made  them  both.  The  invisible 
tilings  of  him  are  seen  in  creation  ;  breathed  through  reve- 
lation to  the  nund  of  him  who  is  prepared  to  see  and  hear. 
^'Nature  considered  rationally,"  says  Humboldt,  "is  a  unity 
in  diversity  of  phenomena,"  and  with  the  same  truth  we  say, 
tlie  Bible  considered  rationally,  is  a  unity  in  diversity  of  ex- 
))ression. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  senseless  objections  to  this  book 


534  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

is  derived  from  the  fact,  that  in  its  treatment  of  natural  phe- 
nomena, it  ado2:)ts  the  popular  and  not  the  scientific  form  of 
statement.  But,  aside  from  the  fact  that  it  is  not  designed  to 
be  to  any  extent  a  treatise  on  natural  science  beyond  the  pre- 
sentation of  a  few  general  facts  essential  to  the  knowledge  of 
God,  it  is  obvious  that  a  series  of  scientific  statements  would 
constitute  the  most  formidable  obstacle  to  its  reception.  For 
if  these  were  given  as  absolute  truth,  then  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  verify  them  until  the  whole  Cosmos  of  creation  had 
been  fully  mastered.  The  science  to  which  the  human  mind 
had  attained  in  the  age  of  the  Ptolemies  would  pronounce  all 
that  lay  beyond,  or  was  in  opposition  to  its  principles,  false. 
The  science  of  each  age  would  set  itself  necessarily  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  science  of  the  Bible.  If  now,  that  only  a  few  gen- 
erg-l  outlines  of  nature  have  been  given,  there  has  to  be  a  battle 
fought  at  every  new  advance  into  the  regions  of  natural  laws, 
what  would  have  been  the  case  had  the  field  of  conflict  been 
vastly  enlarged  so  as  to  embrace  a  great  variety  of  subjects  ? 
The  science  of  this  age  sets  itself  up  to  measure  God's  truth  ; 
the  science  of  the  next  age  proves  that  the  measure  then  used 
was  imperfect ;  the  science  of  the  age  beyond  that  proves  that 
all  previous  measures  were  too  short  to  reach  their  object. 
And  thus  God's  Word,  instead  of  fulfilling  its  great  end  as  a 
light  to  the  soul  into  the  method  of  salvation  for  sinners,  would 
necessarily  become  an  element  of  discord  in  the  entire  field  of 
natural  science.  No  !  If  any  man  complains  of  revelation 
for  being  defective  in  statement,  cither  in  regard  to  the  laws 
of  natui"e  or  of  religion,  his  complaint  lies  with  greater  force 
against  creation  ;  and  so  he  must  cany  his  impious  assump- 
tion as  an  accusation  into  the  court  of  infinite  wisdom.  There 
let  us  leave  the  fool  whom  science  fails  to  enlighten  and  reason 
to  control. 

I  have  time  to  allude  on  this  part  of  our  subject  to  only 
one  other  analogy  between  creation  and  revelation.  They  both 
ptresent  jjoints  beyond  the  reach  o/"  the  finite  reason  in  this 
world.  This  is  true  of  tlie  Bible  ;  in  the  range  of  its  revela- 
tions it  ascends  al)ove  the  loftiest  hei2;hts  of  intelli<]fence  ever 


BACCALAUREATE  DISCOURSE.        535 

reached  in  this  world.  If  this  were  not  so,  then  after  a  time 
some  minds  would  get  beyond  it,  would  exhaust  it,  just  as  the 
school  boy  gets  beyond  his  first  lessons  ;  or  the  college  youth 
beyond  his  Euclid  ;  or  as  a  spiritual  friend  of  mine,  not  at 
all  remarkable  for  his  knowledge  of  the  book,  once  remarked 
to  me,  that  he  had  got  beyond  the  Bible  itself.  Well,  this  very 
fact  would  condemn  the. Bible  and  reduce  it  to  the  grade  of 
merely  human  compositions.  It  would  be  unlike  any  of  the 
other  works  of  God.  For  wherever  his  hand  is  seen,  there  is 
always  an  unmistakable  impress  of  greatness,  of  vastness,  of 
profundity  passing  comprehension.  Man's  intellect  is  finite  ; 
God's  infinite.  And  in  his  creation,  you  always  find  some- 
thing, and  that  the  very  secret  power  of  all  others  most  vital, 
that  you  can  not  master.  You  may  push  your  researches  in 
any  direction,  and  the  further  you  go  you  will  find  that  which 
is  beyond  you  :  a  principle  of  order,  of  law,  of  life,  that  you 
can  not  grasp. 

Science  only  gives  us  a  knowledge  of  the  outer  forms,  the 
sensible  qualities  of  things.  You  pick  a  flower  ;  how  deli- 
cate !  how  harmoniously  the  col(?rs  are  blended  !  with  what 
exquisite  taste  and  skill  is  it  all  constructed  !  you  take  it  to 
the  botanist — what  is  this  ?  how  is  it  put  together  ?  Well, 
he  picks  it  to  pieces  and  says  it  has  so  many  stamens  and  pis- 
tils, and.  its  leaves  are  of  such  a  form  ;  it  belongs  to  such  a 
class.  But  how  does  it  get  its  form  ?  how  are  the  colors 
mixed  ?  what  is  the  principle,  back  of  all  others,  that  out  of 
the  same  earth  and  gases  and  colors  makes  this  a  flower  rather 
than  a  turnip  ?  And  your  botanical  professor  turns  from  you 
in  utter  perplexity.  Here  is  a  man  of  science,  par  eminence — 
a  very  scientific  man,  who  knows  all  about  fislies  and  clams 
and  oysters.  He  can  tell  you  the  difference,  to  a  hair  line, 
between  each  sub — subdivision  of  molluscs.  But  when  his 
eloquent  lecture  is  over,  you  quietly  ask  him  what  orig- 
inates the  difterence  ?  what  is  the  life  in  one  clam  that 
gives  it  this  form,  the  life  in  the  other  which  gives  it 
that  ?  He  will  be  as  nuich  puzzled  and  as  much  aston- 
ished as  was  the  king  of  Israel  when  the  leprous  cajjtain  of 


536  OCCASIONAL      SERMONS. 

the  king  of  Syria  came  to  him  to  be  healed  !  Am  I  God  to 
tell  you  this  ? 

And  just  so  it  is  with  God's  Word  ;  you  can  not  exhaust 
it ;  you  can  not  get  all  around  it ;  the  higher  your  intelligence 
the  profounder  grows  the  truth  ;  the  more  you  search  it,  with 
the  keenest  and  most  cultivated  intellect,  the  more  fully  you 
learn  to  appreciate  its  unapproachable  greatness  and  glory. 
When  a  child,  you  thought  the  next  hill  top  the  end  of  the 
world,  and  your  horizon  shut  it  on  all  sides.  You  grew  older 
and  traveled  further.  But  still  the  horizon  extended  indefi- 
nitely, and  you  were  no  nearer  tlie  end  than  you  were  before. 
So  it  is  ever  with  God's  word  ;  advance  as  we  may,  rise  in  in- 
telligence as  we  can,  its  limits  expand  before  us  ;  new  forms 
of  truth  reveal  themselves  to  us  ;  and  God  is  seen  to  be  in 
them  all  the  principle  of  life.  You  catch  a  glimpse  to-day 
of  some  great  thought ;  it  seems  near  to  you,  as  the  distant 
mountains  seem  near  to  those  far,  far  away.  You  travel  on ; 
but  instead  of  fully  overtaking  that  thought,  it  rises  higher, 
higher  still,  till  its  top  pierces  the  heavens,  and  you  can  only 
wonder  and  adore.  * 

I  have  endeavored  thus  to  give  you  two  or  three  lines  of 
thought  illustrating  the  authorship  of  revelation  from  the 
actual  work  of  the  author  of  creation.  It  need  occupy  us  but 
a  little  while  longer  to  consider  the  second  part  of  ouv  subject, 
the  fact  that  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  transcend  those  of 
natm'e,  and  that  the  wisdom  of  man  is  foolishness  in  respect 
to  the  attainment  of  the  great  object  of  life.  The  apostle  as- 
serts the  broad  fact  tbat  mere  earthly  wisdom  or  science  had 
failed  to  save  men,  and  that  the  gospel  alone  could  effect  this 
great  work. 

This  feet  must  be  based  on  one  or  both  of  two  supposi- 
tions. It  must  result  from  the  insufficiency  of  the  teachings 
of  nature  when  that  nature  is  most  wisely  interpreted,  or  it 
must  result  from  the  utter  failure  of  man  to  interpret  it 
rightly.  In  point  of  fact,  both  these  suppositions  are  true. 
In  the  first  place,  it  is  true  that  earthly  science,  however  far 
it  may  advance,  and  however  just  it  may  be,  is  not  sufficient 


BACCALAUREATE     DISCOURSE.  537 

to  meet  the  wants  of  man  as  lie  is  now,  a  fallen  and  sinful 
creature.  In  saying  this,  I  am  far  from  affirming  that  this 
science  is  in  any  respect  opposed  to  that  of  Revelation.  On 
the  contrary,  just  as  I  have  shoAvn  you  some  of  the  analogies 
which  exist  between  them,  so  it  can  be  shown  that  all  true 
science  is  in  full  and  perfect  harmony  with  the  lessons  of 
God's  word.  But  when  we  have  said  this,  we  have  not  said 
that  this  word  does  not  carry  us  beyond  all  that  nature  and 
providence  unfold,  into  the  will  of  God  respecting  the  high- 
est interests  of  man.  Let  a  mind,  the  acutcst  and  most  pro- 
found, bring  forth  the  results  of  its  study  into  the  whole 
field  of  nature  ;  let  it  classify  all  its  phenomena,  seize  hold 
of  the  laws  which  give  unity  to  the  seeming  diversity,  and 
enter  into  the  great  plan  according  to  which  all  that  is  visible 
has  been  constructed  ;  then  let  it  ascend  by  the  most  compre- 
hensive deduction  until  the  eternal  power  and  Godhead  reveal 
themselves  in  all  their  sublime  reality  ;  let  it  accomplish  this 
work — a  work  which  as  yet  no  human  mind  has  been  able  to 
accomplish  ;  let  it  carry  its  light  from  nature  up  to  nature's 
God,  and  what  have  we  gained  ^  *We  have  gained  a  knowl- 
edge of  law,  and  the  being  and  character  of  God  so  far  as 
these  are  related  to  a  being  placed  under  more  law  ;  but  we 
have  not  gained  a  single  ray  of  light  on  the  chief  problem  of 
human  life ;  we  have  not  heard  the  first  whisper  in  answer  to 
that  question  of  all  others  most  vital  to  the  interests  of  the 
race,  "  How  shall  a  man  be  just  with  God  ?"  The  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  the  method  by  which  a  sinner,  mortal  and 
evil,  can  obtain  i-econciliation  with  his  sovereign,  escape  from 
the  stern  reign  of  law  into  tluit  of  mercy,  and  rise  sujjerior  to 
all  the  power  of  sin,  above  its  disorder  and  its  degeneracy, 
into  the  serene  atmosphere  and  life  of  the  divine  favor  ; — on 
these  points  of  vital  interest  nature  sheds  no  light.  We  find 
order  everywhere  ;  we  find  law  everywhere  ;  we  see  God  ris- 
ing in  the  grandeur  of  an  infinite  Creator,  and  the  sublimity 
of  a  moral  sovereign  ;  but  no  voice  comes  forth  from  the 
depths  of  nature  to  soothe  the  distressed  conscience  ;  no  un- 
nfistakable  tokens  of  com2)assion  waken  the  hope  of  for- 


538  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

giveness.  Far  down  in  the  dej)ths  of  man's  heart  there  is  a 
turbid  fountain  for  which  nature  brings  no  purification  ;  far 
down  in  his  moral  being  there  is  a  terror  and  a  darkness 
which  the  clearest  deductions  of  science  with  reference  to  the 
character  of  God  fail  to  remove.  It  is  here  where  nature, 
though  an  angel  unfallen  were  the  questioner,  refuses  to  an- 
swer, that  the  word,  divinely  inspired,  sheds  new  light  on  the 
soul.  Jesus  brings  life  and  immortal  it  y  to  light.  He  speaks, 
and  the  doors  of  the  unknown  eternity  open.  We  look  in, 
and  lo  !  a  throne,  in  the  midst  of  which  is  a  Lamb,  as  it  had 
been  slain,  while  round  it,  day  and  night,  circle  a  company 
clothed  in  white  robes,  with  palms  in  their  hands  ;  and  this 
is  the  burden  of  their  praise,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength, 
and  honor,  and  glory  and  blessing." 

Thus  does  the  gospel  reveal  a  future  unknown  to  nature  ; 
thus  does  it  enter  the  region  of  our  deepest  sorrows  and  dark- 
ness, and  reveal  the  method  of  escape  ;  thus  does  it  unfold  a 
heaven  where  sinners,  redeemed  and  j^urified,  may  dwell  for 
ever.  Thus  does  it  shine  into  darkness  the  sjieculations  of 
the  philosopher,  and  open  a  new,  a  living  pathway  to  the  op- 
pressed sons  of  time — a  path  all  radiant  with  celestial  light, 
along  which  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  pass  to  glory  with 
songs  and  everlasting  joy. 

But  not  only  is  it  true  that  the  highest  wisdom  of  nature 
is  inferior  to  the  wisd(jm  of  the  gospel  in  itself  considered  ;  it 
is  wholly  inferior  to  it  from  the  difficulties  which  attend  the 
acquisition  of  it.  These  difficulties  arise,  first,  from  the  falli- 
bility of  reason,  and  second,  from  the  disturbed  action  of  our 
moral  nature. 

They  spring  first  from  the  fallibility  of  reason.  This  is 
true,  whether  you  take  into  view  the  philosophers  or  the  mul- 
titude. The  mass  of  mankind  never  reason  very  lar.  They 
avoid  abstract  questions.  They  find  it  difficult  to  pass  be- 
yond particulars  so  as  to  master  universal  truths.  To  gather, 
arrange,  combine,  and  then  deduce  from  the  phenomena  of 
life  the  law  which  is  impressed  upon  them,  is  practically  be- 


BACCALAUREATE  DISCOURSE.        539 

yond  their  stage  of  mental  development.  But  this  is  a  j)ro- 
cess  which  must  be  gone  through  with  in  order  to  educe  the 
teachings  of  nature.  This  to  the  great  majority  of  mankind 
is  so  difficult  that  it  is  not  ordinarily  eifected.  Hence,  the 
religion  of  man  outside  the  Bible  is  generally  based  upon  tra- 
dition. They  are  born  into  it.  They  accept  with  little  or 
no  inquiry  the  knowledge,  the  methods  of  worship,  and  the 
precepts  of  religion  which  have  been  handed  down  to  them. 
If  these  are  pure  it  is  well.  If  these  are  corrupt  it  is  well. 
They  never  advance  upon  them.  But  as  I  shall  show  you 
presently,  they  inevitably  degenerate  and  lower  the  purest 
teachings  of  the  past.  That  man  has  read  history  and  hu- 
manity to  little  purpose,  who  imagines  that  men  will  as  a 
body  succeed  of  themselves  in  attaining  a  full  knowledge  of 
all  that  creation  and  providence  teach  of  the  ways  and  char- 
acter of  the  Infinite  Grod. 

Nor  is  this  true  alone  of  the  multitude.  The  best  and 
purest  of  the  philosophers  have  signally  failed  in  this  direc- 
tion. Their  conceptions  of  the  divine  character  have  been 
exceedingly  defective.  And  of  the  relations  of  man  to  God, 
and  a  future  life,  they  have  entertained  views  very  erroneous 
and  evil. 

When,  however,  you  take  into  view,  in  addition  to  the 
weakness  and  fallibility  of  the  reason,  the  disordered  state  of 
our  moral  nature,  you  will  see  how  the  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  natural  religion  enlarge.  The  moral  nature  has  a  most  in- 
timate connection  with  our  judgments  on  all  those  questions 
which  concern  the  soul  and  God.  If  pure,  it  mightily  aids 
the  reason  ;  its  intuitions  harmonize  with  and  enforce  its 
conclusions.  Btit  if  it  be  impure,  if  sin  reigns  in  it,  if  it  is 
alienated  from  God  and  debased  by  wicked  woi'ks,  then  it  is 
equally  mighty  in  debauching  the  reason.  This  is  the  chief 
source  of  the  errors  which  have  overspread  the  world.  One 
great,  appalling  fact  meets  the  student  of  history.  It  is,  that 
however  men  may  advance  in  mere  literature  and  science,  the 
progress  of  the  world  outside  the  Bible  has  ever  been  down- 
ward.    Paul  has  traced  this  history,  and  painted  it  in  lurid 


540  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

colors  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Komans.  The  whole  theory 
of  modern  Pantheism,  in  respect  to  a  secret  law  of  spiritual 
progress  upward,  is  a  lie  ;  false  in  its  premises  and  false  in  its 
facts.  No  nation  without  the  Bible  has  ever  advanced  from 
a  corrupt  to  a  pure  faith.  The  traditions,  the  pure  truths  of 
an  earlier  and  happier  faith  are  gi'adually  corrupted.  Men 
never  advance  upon  them.  They  go  down  from  pure  Deism 
to  Polytheism,  and  then  to  the  most  horrible  corruptions  of 
their  new  faith.  Even  philosophy  itself  partakes  of  these  im- 
pure influences  ;  it  rises  ;  it  falls ;  it  has  no  sure  foothold  ; 
it  stumbles  at  noonday  ;  it  retreats  to  Deism,  to  Atheism,  to 
utter  skepticism.  It  roars — it  raves  like  the  blind  Cyclops 
in  search  of  an  entrance  out  of  its  dark  cavern,  and  only  pen- 
etrates into  darker  depths.  Hear  the  testimony  from  one  of 
its  hierophants  :  "  I  have  consulted  our  philosophers,  I  have 
perused  their  books,  I  have  examined  their  several  opinions,  I 
have  found  them  all  proud,  positive,  and  dogmatising,  even  in 
their  pretended  skepticism,  knowing  e\'ery  thing,  proving 
nothing,  and  ridiculing  one  another  ;  and  this  is  the  only 
})oint  in  which  they  concur  and  in  which  they  are  right.  If 
you  count  their  number,  each  one  is  reduced  to  himself;  they 
never  unite  but  to  dispute.  I  conceived  that  the  insufficiency 
of  the  human  understanding  was  the  first  cause  of  this  pro- 
digious diversity  of  sentiment,  and  that  pride  was  the  second. 
If  our  philosophers  were  able  to  discover  truth,  which  of  them 
would  interest  himself  about  it  ?  Where  is  the  philosopher 
who  for  his  own  glory  Avould  not  willingly  deceive  the  whole 
liuman  race  ?  Where  is  he  who  in  the  secret  of  his  heart 
professes  any  other  object  than  his  own  distinction  .^  The 
great  thing  for  him  is  to  think  difierently  from  other  peo- 
X)le.  Under  pretense  of  being  themselves  tlie  only  people  en- 
lightened, they  imperiously  suliject  us  to  their  magisterial  de- 
cisions, and  would  f\iin  palm  upon  us,  for  the  true  cause  of 
things,  the  unintelligible  systems  they  have  erected  in  their 
own  heads  ;  while  they  overturn,  destroy  and  trample  under 
foot  all  that  mankind  reveres  ;  snatch  from  the  afflicted  the 
only  comfort  left  them  in  their  misery  ;  from  the  rich  and 


BACCALAUREATE     DISCOURSE.  541 

great  the  only  curb  that  can  restrain  their  passions  ;  tear 
from  the  heart  all  remorse  of  vice,  all  hopes  of  virtue,  and 
still  boast  themselves  the  benefactors  of  mankind." 

Thus  speaks  Rousseau  ;  what  a  remarkable  illustration  of 
what  Paul  long  before  asserted,  that  jjrofessing  themselves  to 
be  wise  they  became  fools  ?  Thus  everywhere  among  the 
multitude  you  find  those  evil  influences  at  work,  which  darken 
the  reason,  corrupt  religion,  and  destroy  the  soul  ;  well  may 
we  repeat  that  man  by  wisdom  knew  not  Grod. 

Turning  from  this  scene  of  darkness  and  desjiair,  where 
hope  dies  and  religion  passes  into  superstition  or  doubt,  we 
open  the  Bible.  Here  the  grand  truths  that  bless  and  save 
are  written  out  broadly.  The  law  is  here  in  plain,  unmis- 
takable characters.  We  need  no  long  process  of  reasoning, 
we  wait  not  for  the  deductions  of  philosophy.  It  is  here, 
shining  out  as  the  sun  in  his  glory — surrounded  by  the  pres- 
ence and  confirmed  by  the  manifest  authority  of  God.  All 
the  truths  most  essential  for  such  a  fallen  race  to  know  are 
here,  not  in  obscure  oracles,  not  in  mere  symbols,  but  in 
characters  of  light  and  glory.  Nay,  more,  these  truths  are 
brought  out  and  illustrated  in  the  lives  of  individuals  and 
nations.  They  are  built  up  amidst  the  assaults  of  all  forms 
of  error,  as  from  age  to  age  they  encounter  the  passions  of  the 
sensual  and  the  pride  of  the  intellectual.  They  stand  forth 
in  contrast  to  the  delusions  of  error,  and  demonstrate  their 
unmistakable  divinity  amidst  the  corruptions  which  encom- 
pass them,  and,  as  if  to  give  to  the  world  their  sublimest 
illustration,  we  behold  him  who  was  in  the  form  of  God, 
assuming  our  form,  illustrating  the  nature  of  true  religion, 
revealing  the  p')wer  of  a  holy  law  in  his  own  life,  and  lifting 
up  before  the  world  that  character  to  which  we  may  all  attain. 
Nor  is  this  all.  While  it  flashes  light  upon  the  character  of 
God  as  holy,  and  down  into  the  depths  of  our  polluted  na- 
tures, it  does  not  mock  us  with  the  terrible  contrast  ;  it  does 
not  make  a  Tantalus  of  us,  chaining  us  to  the  rock  in  sight 
of  deliverance,  but  with  no  power  to  reach  it.  It  clothes 
God  with  compassion  ;  it  incarnates  him  as  the  suffering  Re- 


542  OCCASIONAL     SER5I0NS. 

deemer  ;  it  builds  a  pathway  to  heaven  for  us  ;  it  institutes 
a  power  which,  entering  our  hearts,  enlightens,  transforms 
and  exalts.  It  communicates  to  him  who  seeks  for  life,  that 
faith  which  overcomes  the  world.  And  so  it  reveals  to  us  a 
glorious  Captain  of  salvation  made  perfect  through  suffering, 
who  is  everywhere  leading  up  to  the  heights  of  glory  a  vast 
multitude  of  ransomed  souls.  Oh  !  glorious  and  blessed  wis- 
dom of  the  Infinite,  shining  from  these  blessed  pages,  whose 
calm  light  penetrates  the  dark  heart,  and  with  divine  power 
creates  anew  our  fallen  nature — imparts  peace  amidst  the  war 
of  passion — gives  strength  in  conscious  weakness,  joy  in  the 
hour  of  deepest  sorrow,  and  hope  triumphant  when  the  earth 
and  all  it  contains  is  slipping  from  beneath,  and  eternity  waits 
for  our  coming. 

And  now,  before  I  close,  let  me  bring  before  you  two  ex- 
amples, two  names  illustrious  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  par- 
tially illustrating  the  opposite  positions  on  which  we  have 
just  dwelt.  It  is  but  yesterday  that  Humboldt  died.  For 
more  than  sixty  years  his  name  has  been  associated  with  sci- 
ence. For  sixty  years  he  has  been  one  of  the  most  industri- 
ous students  of  nature.  Enjoying  royal  resources  for  the 
prosecution  of  his  work,  he  has  employed  these  resources  with 
an  indomitable  will,  an  enthusiasm  ever  fresh,  an  industry 
that  never  weared,  a  purpose  ever  erect  and  fixed.  He  sought 
to  penetrate  the  arcana  of  creation,  and  from  out  of  its  infi- 
nite phenomena  to  educe  the  ultimate  force  that  gave  unity, 
form  and  life  to  all  things  visible.  To  effect  this  object,  he 
read,  he  studied,  he  mastered  all  that  the  human  mind  had 
brought  forth  and  recorded  in  the  entire  history  of  the  past 
and  the  present.  To  effect  this,  he  crossed  oceans,  scaled 
mountains,  traversed  deserts  ;  he  looked  up  into  the  heavens 
amid  the  profound  depths  of  the  Cordilleras  ;  and  from  the 
leafless  forests  of  the  frozen  north.  He  scrutinized  the  forms 
and  the  forces  of  nature  in  climes  torrid  and  temperate,  and 
over  all  the  continents  of  the  earth.  He  pushed  his  adven- 
turous researches  into  the  starry  universe,  and  followed  in  his 
thought  the  grandest  speculations  of  those  who  have  pene- 


BACCALAUREATE     DISCOURSE,  543 

trated  farthest  into  this  infinite  and  peopled  expanse  that 
embraces  our  planetary  system  as  a  point  in  its  vastness.  He 
added  fact  to  fact,  form  to  form,  force  to  force.  In  the  im- 
mense gyrations  of  his  ascending  flight  he  sought  a  position 
from  which,  penetrating  all  nature,  the  diversity  should 
become  unity — the  discord  harmony,  the  exceptions  confirma- 
tions and  parts  of  law,  while  the  one  grand  force  that  rules 
and  subdues  all  things  to  itself,  that  creates  and  moves  and 
fills  creation  with  life,  should  stand  revealed  to  his  finite  in- 
tellect. His  own  profound  passion  ;  the  absorbing  aspiration 
of  his  soul  was  not  to  rule  as  a  statesman,  nor  conquer  as  a 
general,  nor  lift  off  the  burdens  of  society  as  a  philanthropist, 
nor  pour  the  redeeming  love  of  Christ  into  the  sorrowing 
heart  of  humanity  as  a  Christian  minister  ;  it  was  to  solve 
the  problem  of  creation  ;  to  hold  it  in  all  its  magnificent  har- 
mony in  his  thought  as  God  does  in  his.  He  was  a  man  of 
a  genial  and  kindly  nature.  The  great  did  homage  to  his 
intellect ;  science  sent  her  devotees  to  his  study  as  to  Mecca 
— to  Jerusalem — to  her  wisest  hierophant  and  her  holiest 
shrine. 

What  now  in  respect  to  the  great  end  is  the  conclusion  of 
all  this  vast  research  ?  To  what  high  object  is  this  intrepid 
pursuit  of  nature,  this  reduction  of  all  her  forms  to  one 
great  law,  made  subservient  ?  What  is  the  final  and  sub- 
stantive advantage  which  man  is  to  reap  from  this  gathering 
together  of  the  universe  into  one  finite  thought  ?  Listen — 
"  Its  noblest  and  most  important  result  is  a  knowledge  of  the 
chain  of  connection  by  which  all  natural  forces  are  linked  to- 
gether, and  made  muteially  dependent  upon  each  other  ;  it  is 
the  perception  of  these  relations  that  exalts  our  views  and  en- 
nobles our  enjoyment."  Isot  one  word  here  of  Grod  ;  not  a 
single  step  beyond  the  chain  of  blind  force  into  the  august 
temple  of  the  Infinite  Spirit  ;  not  a  single  glance  at  that 
great  Being  in  whose  thought  the  idea  of  the  universe  ever 
was  ;  through  whose  power  creation  became  a  living  fiict.  It 
is  all  nature — "  nature,"  in  the  language  of  another,  which  he 
adojjts — "  revealing  herself  as  the  creative  force  of  the  uni- 


544  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

verse — Lefore  all  time,  eternal,  ever  active,  calling  to  life  all 
things,  whether  perishable  or  imperishable."  Call  you  this 
the  chief  end  of  philosophy — to  ennoble  the  soul  by  the  con- 
templation of  a  vast  harmony,  a  gigantic  organ  with  all  its 
numberless  pipes  well  tuned,  while  the  Infinite  Mind,  that 
built  and  voiced  it,  whose  lingers  move  it,  and  whose  Spirit 
breathes  through  its  dead  form  tones  that  from  the  deep  bass 
of  the  earthquake  to  the  soft  alto  of  the  music  of  the  spheres, 
goes  sounding  forth  through  all  the  depths,  and  heights,  the 
solitudes  and  the  peopled  spaces  of  His  universe,  while  this 
Infinite  Mind,  enthroned  in  eternity,  is  utterly  forgotten  ! 
Why,  oh  why  did  this  mind,  imperial  in  the  realm  of  science, 
with  all  the  riches  of  creation  at  his  feet,  as  the  result  of  this 
three-score  years  of  thinking  and  reading  and  reasoning,  stul- 
tify itself  with  a  conclusion  so  ineffably  stupid  ?  Why  did  it 
descend  from  a  height  so  sublime  to  a  position  so  ridiculous  ? 
Why  did  it  arrest  its  progress  and  introvert  its  thoughts, 
when  at  the  threshold  of  the  celestial  city  ;  when  another 
step,  and  that  step  demanded  by  all  that  is  immortal  and  no- 
ble in  man,  would  have  brought  it  into  the  veiy  j^i'esence  of 
the  Infinite,  and  unveiled  to  it  the  one  great  object  of  thought 
and  feeling  that  alone  can  ennoble  either  the  intellect  or  the 
heart  ?  The  answer,  the  one  solemn  and  fearful  answer, 
comes  to  us  borne  on  all  the  winds  that  sweep  down  the 
course  of  history,  swelling  wildly  above  the  riot  and  the  roar 
of  degenerate  humanity  through  all  the  halls  and  palaces  and 
academies  of  time  ;  wailing  sadly  through  the  vaults  of  the 
charnel  houses,  the  mausoleums  where  wait  the  buried  dead  for 
judgment.  Man  hy  luisdom  knows  not  God.  If  in  the  dark- 
ness and  the  utter  solitude  of  a  desert  the  tones  of  a  bell  should 
strike  upon  the  ear  of  the  traveler,  would  he  imagine,  in  the 
wildness  of  his  fancy,  that  no  hand  guided  by  intelligence 
had  struck  that  bell  ?  If,  instead  of  this,  strains  of  ravish- 
ing harmony,  as  of  an  innumerable  company  of  angels,  should 
break  upon  him,  bearing  the  burden  of  high  and  holy  thoughts 
right  into  his  awakened  soul,  would  he,  could  he  aiTcst  the  in- 
stinctive conclusion  that  hidi  intellisrences  were  greetino;him? 


BACCALAUREATE  DISCOUESE.       545 

And  when  the  universal  harmony  begins  its  wondrous  music, 
all  creation,  with  her  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  voices, 
rings  in  his  ear  the  thoughts  of  an  Infinite  intelligence,  shall 
he,  will  he,  can  he,  without  a  blindness  and  a  stuj^idity  pass- 
ing understanding,  suffer  his  mind  to  rest  in  the  product,  and 
never  lift  his  thought  to  the  great  Producer  ?  I  wonder  not 
that  Humboldt  wrote  to  a  friend,  shortly  before  life  closed, 
^^  I  live  a  joyless  life;"  I  wonder  not  that,  worried  and  dis- 
turbed by  the  attentions  which  his  fame  created,  he  should 
join  in  the  same  sad  chorus  which  the  sublime  and  tragic 
muse  of  Greece  so  often  utters  on  the  borders  of  the  gi'ave  ; 
the  same  sad  chorus  which  from  the  graves  of  Cicero,  and 
Seneca,  and  millions  more,  perpetually  resound  through  the 
temples  where  the  wisdom  of  this  world  has  reared  its  altars, 
and  in  which  it  has  shrined  all  its  hopes  for  time  and  eternity. 
As  for  me,  I  had  rather  have  been  the  author  of  Cowper's 
"  Fountain  filled  with  Blood,'  or  Kirke  White's  "  Star  of 
Bethlehem,"  than  to  bo  liveried  in  the  gorgeous  robes  and 
adorned  with  the  glittering  troj)hies  of  scientific  achievement 
of  the  author  of  Cosmos. 

I  turn  to  another  name — a  name  often  mentioned  on  these 
occasions,  and  justly  too  ;  for,  of  all  men  who  have  ever  lived, 
Newton  has  won  a  fame  in  the  field  of  natural  science,  the 
most  stable  and  commanding.  Yet  this  man,  whose  hand 
had  been  laid  upon  those  secret  principles  which  constitute 
the  bass  chords  of  the  harmony  of  nature  ;  who  saw  furthei' 
into  its  mysteries,  and  did  more  to  reduce  its  discord  to  har- 
mony, than  all  who  had  gone  before  him.  This  man  turns 
from  the  truths  of  natural  science  as  from  the  pebbles  that 
strew  the  shores  of  the  great  ocean  of  truth,  to  fill  his  soul 
with  that  higher  wisdom  which  comes  to  us  through  the  in- 
spired revelation.  Here  he  stood  amid  the  Alps,  the  Niagara 
of  thought,  and  felt  the  awful  presence  of  a  holy  God.  Thither 
he  turned  from  the  rude  conflicts  into  which  envious  rivals 
had  dragged  him,  to  listen  to  the  words  of  Jesus  speaking  to 
him  of  pardon  and  life.  Here,  when  the  infirmities  of  age 
gathered  about  him,  and  the  grave  stood  with  opening  portal 

35 


546 


OCCASIONAL     SERMONS, 


for  his  coming,  he  drank  in  those  inspiring  hopes  which  made 
life's  close  calm  and  peaceful,  took  the  sting  from  death  and 
the  victory  from  the  grave.  And  so  he  added  another  illus- 
trious testimony  to  that  of  millions — testimony  to  the  fact 
that  when  by  the  wisdom  of  earthly  science  he  had  failed  to 
know  God,  then  the  gospel  became  the  wisdom  and  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation. 


Young  Gentlemen  of  the  Senior  Class  : 

It  has  seemed  fitting  that  as  I  began  my  instructions  to 
you  by  the  installation  of  God's  Word  as  our  great  text  book, 
so  in  these  my  parting  counsels  I  should  trace  out  a  few  of 
those  various  lines  of  thought  which,  while  they  evince  the  har- 
mony of  nature  and  revelation,  yet  illustrate  the  insufficiency 
of  the  one  to  meet  our  highest  wants  and  the  adaptation  of 
the  other  fully  to  ennoble  and  save  the  soul.  You  know  well 
that  we  do  not  undervalue  science  ;  that  we  love  and  rejoice 
in  it.  But  science  without  God,  like  a  soul  without  religion, 
is  a  house  without  foundations  ;  an  absurdity  ;  an  enormity 
in  the  realm  of  truth.  It  is  because  earthly  science  is  not  all 
science,  not  even  the  grandest  part  of  it,  that  I  point  you  to 
the  higher  wisdom.  It  is  because  deceived  by  the  glitter  of 
lofty  reputations  and  the  noisy  demonstrations  that  attend 
the  successful  aspirants  for  the  honors  of  time,  you  may  be 
seduced  into  the  pursuit  of  these  flaming  phantoms  as  if  they 
were  full  of  divine  virtue,  that  I  would  demonstrate  to  you 
the  exalted  position  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Here  are  treas- 
ured the  elements  of  all  true  success.  The  hopes,  the  joys  of 
time  find  here  their  fullest  fountain.  Here  are  crowns  impe- 
rial that  shall  never  fade  ;  of  which  no  adventurous  usurper 
can  dispossess  you.  Here  God  comes  down  to  you  as  a  father; 
his  incarnate  Son  reveals  himself  your  suffering  brother  and 
redeemer ;  his  blessed  Spirit  visits  you  to  renovate,  guide 
and  console.  Therefore  have  I  sought  to  commend  to  you 
this  volume  ;  since  whatever  of  earthly  honor  may  illustrate 
your  name  in  the  annals  of  time,  if  you  take  not  this  truth 


BACCALAUREATE     DISCOURSE.  547 

to  your  heart,  "  mene,  mene,  tekel,  upharsin"  will  be  written 
on  your  forehead  never  to  be  erased. 

You  are  now  about  to  enter  more  immediately  the  world 
of  active  life.  You  live  in  an  age  full  of  great  events.  The 
world  is  not  what  it  was  when  this  century  opened.  Science 
has  blazed  forth  in  the  glory  of  a  thousand  victories  ;  while 
the  Church  of  God,  intent  upon  the  final  triumph  of  Mes- 
siah, has  appropriated  all  those  victories  as  the  servitors  of 
Jesus  ;  has  gone  forth  and  is  going  forth  to  open  the  prison 
doors,  to  lift  the  burdens  from  the  neck  of  the  oppressed,  to 
scatter  the  darkness  of  error,  to  purge  away  the  gross  pollu- 
tions of  sin  and  install  everywhere  the  anointed  Kedeemer. 
You  are  to  bear  your  part  in  these  opening  triumphs.  It  is 
not  as  soldiers  with  garments  rolled  in  blood  ;  but  as  men, 
high-minded  men,  of  disciplined  minds  and  sound  Christian 
principles,  anchored  in  the  Word  of  Grod,  you  are  to  use  the 
truth  and  the  eloquence  and  the  power  of  argument  already 
gained  and  hereafter  to  be  increased,  for  the  right.  You  will 
not  be  deceived  by  the  speciousness  of  error,  even  when  it 
glitters  in  the  gilded  robes  of  truth.  Eloquent  sciolists  and 
learned  fools  are  yet  to  be  found.  All  motion  is  not  progress; 
the  struggling,  drowning  man  agitates  the  water  and  fills  the  air 
with  his  cries;  while  the  stout,  bold  swimmer,  using  his  muscles 
skillfully,  noiselessly  buffets  the  waves,  and  gains  the  shore. 
In  this  world,  God  has  made  all  greatness  in  results  follow 
conflict.  You  must  be  tried.  Temptations  to  sloth,  to  pleas- 
ure, to  vice,  to  infidel  opinions,  to  a  worldly  and  time-serving 
policy  will  surely  assail  you.  Whatever  achievements  shall 
reflect  honor  on  this  your  Alma  Mater  ;  whatever  of  high  mo- 
rality and  public  virtue  ;  whatever  of  noble  deeds  in  the  ad- 
vancement of  society  ;  whatever  of  profound  science  in  any  of 
the  fields  in  which  you  may  labor  ;  whatever  of  solid  Chris- 
tian character  that  shall  make  you  a  pillar  of  light  in  your 
generation  ;  whatever  of  all  these  you  may  gain,  you  will 
reach  them  only  through  the  most  persistent  conflict  with  the 
adverse  influences  that  are  within  and  around  you.  These  in- 
fluences, hostile  to  your  manhood,  to  your  usefulness  and  to 


548  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

your  crown  of  life  eternal,  have  slain  thousands  of  those  who 
with  disciplined  minds  have  gone  forth  from  college  halls  an- 
ticiiDating  the  brightest  future.  Ye  must  suffer  if  ye  would 
rejoice  ;  ye  must  fight  if  ye  would  reign.  When  vice  shall 
present  to  you  her  sparkling  cup,  remember  that  at  last  it 
will  strike  you  with  an  adder's  sting.  When  ambition,  un- 
scrupulous and  reckless,  shall  bid  you  walk  in  the  paths  of 
deceitful  policy,  then  remember  the  dust  and  ashes  into  which 
her  garnered  fruits  will  turn  in  your  grasp.  When  error, 
wily,  proud,  deceitful,  shall  flatter  you,  then  remember  that 
behind  these  lofty  pretensions  follow  death  and  hell.  On- 
ward, then,  ye  young  and  strong  brothers  in  this  great  battle- 
field of  life  !  Let  your  watchword  be,  "  the  cross  and  the 
crown."  Let  not  trials  damp  your  ardor  ;  let  not  opposition 
stay  your  advocacy  of  the  right.  The  unfading  glory  of  the 
eternal  city  Hes  before  you.  On  every  side  you  will  find 
warm  hearts  and  strong  hands  linked  in  with  yours  in  gen- 
erous sympathy.  And  the  God  of  battles  will  not  sufier  you 
to  fail. 

To-day  I  bear  to  you  the  warm  and  hearty  commendations 
of  those  who  have  for  these  years  watched  and  rejoiced  over 
your  progress  with  paternal  solicitude.  And  as  you  now  pass 
from  their  guidance  they  give  you  their  cordial  wishes  for  a 
happy  future. 

As  for  myself,  peculiar  feelings  agitate  me,  as  we  are  about 
to  sunder  the  link  that  binds  us  together  as  teacher  and 
scholar.  You  met  me,  on  my  entrance  into  the  arduous  and 
responsible  duties  of  this  office,  with  most  cordial  greetings. 
You  have  given  yourselves  to  the  work  of  preparation  for  the 
future  with  rare  diligence  and  fidelity.  Week  after  week  your 
unmistakable  progress  has  been  an  encouragement  and  a  joy. 
When  oppressed  with  care  and  burdened  with  the  responsi- 
bilities of  an  office  at  all  times  great,  and  peculiarly  so  to  me 
in  my  inexf)erience  of  its  duties,  your  earnest  and  careful  dis- 
charge of  the  work  of  the  class-room  has  never  failed  to  cheer 
and  strengthen.  You  are  to  testify  in  your  after  lives  to  this 
my  first  work.     You  will  never  be  forgotten.     I  shall  follow 


BACCAULAUREATE     DISCOURSE.  549 

you  while  life  lasts  with  deepest  interest.  What  may  be  your 
futur»  is  known  only  to  Him  who  sees  the  end  from  the  be- 
ginning. Some  of  you  have  a  good  hope  that  Christ  is  your 
friend.  Some  of  you  since  you  entered  this  institution  have 
entered  upon  a  new  life.  Some  of  you  have  yet  to  seek  and 
find  the  pearl  of  price  unspeakable.  Let  me  entreat  you  all 
to  make  God's  word  your  light  and  Jesus  your  confidence  and 
trust.  Then  the  future,  though  for  a  time  clouds  may  darken 
it,  will  at  length  brighten  into  the  glory  of  an  eternal  day. 
Some  of  your  number  may  fall  early  ;  the  tears  of  parents 
may  be  shed  over  your  early  grave  and  the  hopes  of  life  for 
this  world  perish.  Some  may  rise  to  stations  of  great  influ- 
ence and  your  names  be  heard  far  and  wide.  Some  may  strug- 
gle on  amidst  obscurity,  knowing  little  of  the  world's  great- 
ness. But  if  you  are  faithful  to  the  great  principle  here 
inculcated  your  path  will  be  beneath  the  smiles  of  God,  and 
at  its  end  you  will  be  crowned  with  glory  and  immortal  life. 

In  a  few  hours  we  separate.  But  we  shall  all  meet  again. 
We  are  yet  to  graduate  from  God's  university  and  take  our 
degree  from  His  hand.  Teachers  and  class-mates  must  all 
appear  in  that  great  day  when  the  trump  of  the  archangel 
shall  call  the  sleeping  dead  to  judgment.  Yes  !  we  shall  meet 
again.  May  we  so  meet,  sinners  forgiven  and  saved,  as  to 
separate  no  more  for  ever.     Grant  this,  Lord  Jesus  ! 


XYI. 

THE    FINANCIAL    CRISIS.* 

"  Forbearing  one  another,  and  forgiving  one  another,  if  any  man  have  a  quar- 
rel (complaint)  against  any ;  even  as  I  forgive  you,  so  also  do  ye." — Colossians, 
iiL  18. 

"  A  friend  loveth  at  all  times,  and  a  brother  is  born  for  adversity."  (In  con- 
nection with  Acts,  xxvii.  41.) — Proverbs,  xvii.  17. 

My  friends,  when  we  are  involved  in  a  great  calamity,  the 
first  duty  that  presses  upon  us  is  that  of  aiding  each  other  to 
bear  it,  to  mitigate  its  pressure,  and,  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  to 
rise  entirely  above  it.  Our  next  duty  is  that  of  searching  in- 
to its  causes,  and,  if  it  be  possible,  adopting  a  course  which 
will  prevent  its  recurrence.  We  are  now  in  the  midst  of  great 
financial  troubles.  Since  the  ever  memorable  1837,  when 
bankruptcy  swept,  like  a  devouring  flame  amid  the  dry  grass 
of  a  prairie,  all  over  the  land,  there  has  been  no  such  crisis  in 
the  business  of  the  country  as  that  through  which  we  are  now 
passing.  At  such  a  time  there  are  peculiar  obligations  which 
rest  upon  all  classes  of  the  community,  and  special  duties 
which,  as  patriots,  as  citizens,  and  as  Christians,  they,  owe  to 
each  other.  There  is  a  primary  obligation  to  help  each  other 
to  resist  the  storm  which  takes  precedence  of  any  other,  and 
which  is  associated  with  and  springs  out  of  the  feelings  which 
such  a  crisis  is  adapted  to  awaken  in  respect  to  our  heavenly 
Father. 

I  know,  indeed,  that  there  may  be  those  who  think  it  is 
our  first  duty  to  investigate  the  causes  of  these  tioubles,  and 
they  ring  the  changes  on  speculation  and  overtrading,  while 

*  A  sermon  preached  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
November  12,  1854. 


THE     FINANCIAL     CRISIS.  551 

their  neighbor  is  drowning  before  their  eyes.  Others  there 
may  be  whose  conduct  says,  now  we  shall  see  who  really  are 
honest  men  and  who  are  knaves  ;  who  are  sound  and  who  are 
rotten  ;  while  they  put  forth  not  an  effort  of  brotherly  kind- 
ness to  save  those  who  are  in  trouble.  Others  there  are  still 
whose  motto  is,  "  save  himself  who  can,"  and  who,  in  the 
rush  of  frenzied  efforts  at  self-preservation,  augment  the  dan- 
ger they  seek  to  escape,  and  involve  themselves  and  others  in 
wide-spread  ruin.  When  the  ship  stranded  where  two  seas 
met,  the  soldiers  were  for  killing  the  prisoners,  lest  they  should 
escape  ;  but  among  those  prisoners  was  the  heroic  Paul,  one 
of  the  best  and  bravest  men  who  ever  trod  the  earth.  The 
sailors  were  about  to  forsake  the  ship  and  leave  the  rest  to 
their  fate,  just  as  the  coward  crew  of  the  Arctic  left  the  pas- 
sengers to  perish  without  an  effort  on  their  part  to  save  them. 
But  Paul,  lifting  up  his  voice,  declared  that  unless  they  re- 
mained faithful  at  their  post  the  rest  could  not  be  saved. 
And  at  such  a  time  as  this  it  is  not  fair  for  any  class  of  our 
citizens,  much  less  the  old  tried  seamen,  the  men  who  are 
used  to  weather  the  storm,  to  leave  the  ship — to  stand  far  off 
in  selfish  security  while  one  after  another  goes  down  before 
them.  As  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  it  is  not  my  duty  to  en- 
ter into  the  subject  of  political  economy,  or  to  address  you  on 
those  laws  which  are  essential  to  a  healthy  and  successful  com- 
merce. There  are  those  to  whom  these  things  are  familiar,  as 
subjects  of  a  protracted  experience  and  profound  study,  who 
are  bound  to  write  and  speak  for  the  instruction  of  the  com- 
munity at  large.  But  there  are  special  duties  which  we  owe 
to  each  other  as  fellow-citizens,  and  to  Grod  as  his  dependent 
creatures,  at  such  a  time,  on  which  it  is  both  my  duty  and 
privilege  to  discourse  I  hold  it  to  be  every  man's  duty  to 
contribute  according  to  his  ability,  whether  that  ability  be  in 
the  direction  of  moral  influence  or  material  resources,  to  alle- 
viate the  present  distress,  and  in  the  restoration  of  that  pros- 
perity which  has  hitherto  so  greatly  distinguished  us  ;  and 
80  far  as  it  is  in  my  power  in  this  place  to  effect  any  thing 
toward  the  accomplishment  of  that  object,  I  should  deem  my- 


552  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

self  unworthy  of  my  office,  were  I  not  to  make  the  attempt 
to  exert  that  influence.  Far  be  it  from  me  on  this  occasion 
to  join  in  a  rude  and  often  unjust  condemnation  of  my  fellow- 
men,  for  results  over  which  they  may  not  have  had  controL 
When  my  neighbor  is  struggling  in  the  water  it  v/ould  be 
the  j)art  of  a  cynic  and  an  unfeeling  monster  to  ask  him  how 
he  got  thei'e,  instead  of  doing  the  utmost  to  fling  him  a  plank 
or  a  rope  to  save  him  from  drowning.  It  is  in  the  sjjirit  of 
him  who  came  to  rescue  the  lost,  and  enjoined  it  upon  all 
men  to  do  unto  others  as  they  would  have  others  do  unto 
them,  that  I  w^ould  speak  to  you  to-night. 

In  the  outset,  it  is  an  obvious  remark  that  faitli  in  each 
other  is  the  great  principle  which,  more  than  any  other,  con- 
stitutes the  cement  of  human  society.  It  enters  into  almost 
every  transaction  of  business  ;  it  reveals  itself  in  every  form 
of  associated  action.  It  is  the  mutual  confidence  of  husband 
and  wife,  parents  and  children,  that  binds  the  family  together. 
The  State  exists  by  virtue  of  the  confidence  which  men  have 
in  those  who  are  sent  to  frame  and  execute  the  laws.  Society, 
in  all  its  parts  and  in  all  its  arrangements,  does  homage  to  this 
principle,  and  acknowledges  it  as  an  indispensable  element  of 
its  existence.  Not  a  boat  is  sent  forth  upon  the  river  or  the 
ocean  which  does  not  require  faith  in  its  officers  on  the  part 
of  those  who  commit  to  it  themselves  or  their  property.  Not 
a  car  starts  on  the  railroad  in  which  men  are  not  compelled 
to  have  confidence  in  the  engineer  and  conductor.  Not  a  co- 
partnership, nor  a  company  for  any  good  purpose,  is  ever  or- 
ganized which  does  not  requu^e,  as  one  of  its  first  conditions, 
some  degree  of  faith  in  its  membere.  The  manufacturer  must, 
to  a  certain  extent,  trust  his  hands,  and  they,  in  turn,  must 
have  confidence  in  their  employer ;  the  merchant  must,  within 
certain  limits,  confide  in  his  clerks,  and  they  in  him.  Those 
who  buy,  and  those  who  sell,  and  those  who  use,  are  com- 
pelled, by  the  simple  fact  that  they  are  none  of  them  omnis- 
cient, to  have  faith  in  each  other.  The  reader  of  a  newspaper 
must  confide  in  the  accuracy  and  the  fidelity  of  the  editor. 
The  client  must  confide  in  his  lawyer,  and  the  citizen  at  large 


THE     FINANCIAL     CRISIS.  553 

in  both  judge  and  jury.     A  cliurcli  must  have  faith  in  their 
pastor,  and  a  j^mstor  in  his  people. 

The  principle  antagonistic  to  this,  the  principle  of  selfish- 
ness, which  has  so  deep  a  root  and  so  vigorous  a  growth  in 
every  heart,  and  which  is  perpetually  working  to  undermine 
this  faith  in  each  other,  and  separate  society  into  individual 
and  hostile  elements,  must  be  met  by  a  power  far-reaching 
and  mighty,  in  order  to  be  effectually  counteracted,  or  so  far 
counteracted  as  to  enable  men  to  live  in  association  with  each 
other  ;  for  the  moment  faith  falls  out  of  the  human  heart 
selfishness  reveals  its  accursed  nature  and  its  terrific  influ- 
ence. Then  every  man  instinctively  obeys  the  cry  "  save  him- 
self who  can  ;"  then  every  one  trusts  to  himself  for  defense 
and  for  support.  Men  glare  at  each  other  with  green  and 
frenzied  eyes.  Friends  no  longer  recognize  the  claims  of 
friendship.  Society,  except  in  the  lowest  form,  becomes  an 
impossibility.  Individual  action  takes  the  place  of  associated ; 
all  the  arts  of  civilization,  the  refinements  of  life  and  the 
progress  of  the  human  mind,  are  at  once  arrested.  Without 
faith  the  earth  would  become  a  pandemonium,  where  incar- 
nate fiends  rioted  at  midday,  and  selfishness  held  its  jubilee 
over  the  wreck  of  all  that  is  most  fair  and  noble.  Benevo- 
lence, which  is  the  prop  of  faith,  would  vanish  away,  while  in 
such  a  chaos  selfishness  and  unbelief  would  combine  to  destroy 
all  that  renders  life  lovely  and  hopeful. 

Now,  the  same  results  follow,  in  a  less  degree,  it  is  true, 
when  confidence  fails  in  any  direction.  When  confidence  in 
magistrates  fails  us,  crime  develops  itself  with  fearful  rapid- 
ity ;  good  citizens  fortify  their  dwellings  and  arm  themselves 
to  resist  the  lawless  when  the  ministers  of  justice  fiiil  to  arrest 
and  punish.  The  whole  process  of  lynch  law,  with  which  we 
have  become  so  familiar,  is  nothing  more  than  the  protest  of 
society  against  the  faithlessness  and  the  inefficiency  of  its 
magistrates — a  demonstration  of  their  w^ant  of  faith  in  the 
appointed  ministers  of  justice. 

And  so  when  confidence  in  the  pecuniary  ability  or  hon- 
esty of  those  engaged  in  business  is  largely  broken,  then  just 


554 


OCCASIONAL     SERMONS 


in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  this  want  of  confidence  and  the 
numbers  involved  in  it,  do  we  see  results  flowing  from  it  most 
disastrous  to  society,  distressing  to  multitudes.  In  a  com- 
mercial and  manufacturing  population,  where  of  necessity 
there  is  an  immense  amount  of  credit  given  and  taken  every 
day,  where,  in  the  ordinary  transactions  of  business,  millions 
change  hands  in  a  few  hours,  not  by  the  transfer  of  gold  and 
silver,  but  by  certified  checks,  the  whole  virtue  of  which  con- 
sists in  the  signature  of  individuals,  it  must  be  the  case  that 
a  failure  of  confidence  inevitably  results  in  wide-spread  over- 
throw and  distress.  It  generates  suspicions  that  attach  to 
the  sound  as  well  as  unsound.  It  contracts  the  hand  of  the 
capitalist,  who  has  the  means  of  assisting  those  who  are  in 
more  immediate  want,  in  order  that  he  may  be  enabled  to 
stand  himself  amid  the  storm  and  save  that  which  he  has 
hoarded  from  destruction.  It  produces,  as  a  part  of  its  re- 
sults, occasional  panics,  in  which  the  unthinking  multitude, 
eager  to  save  each  one  his  own,  rush  for  the  deposited  treas- 
ure, and  by  the  very  suddenness  and  greatness  of  their  de- 
mands, incapacitate  at  once  the  safest  and  best  houses  in  the 
land  from  meeting  them.  Then  as  the  stream  flows  on  it 
widens  and  deepens.  Merchants  can  not  make  collections  ; 
manufacturers,  unable  to  command  the  means  to  pay  their 
expenses,  pay  off  their  hands.  Thousands  of  men,  with  de- 
pendent families,  their  little  store  of  earnings  placed  beyond 
their  reach,  without  resources,  are  turned  adrift  to  shift  as 
best  they  may.  Nor  is  this  all.  Men  of  {j.cknowledged  ability 
and  integrity,  men  whose  property  may  be  double  that  of  all 
their  liabilities,  find  themselves  unable  to  meet  at  once  their 
engagements.  The  imjietuous  stream  flows  on,  heeding  not 
honesty  nor  integrity  any  more  than  dishonesty.  Business 
men  are  so  bound  together,  and  so  dependent  upon  one  another, 
and  all  rest  so  fully  upon  the  maintenance  of  public  confi- 
dence, tliat  when  this  gives  way  in  one  quarter  no  man  whose 
means  are  in  the  hands  of  others  is  secure.  You  know  not 
where  to  go  or  to  whom  to  look  for  aid.  In  the  mutual  inter- 
est and  the  interlocking  relations  of  men  of  business,  it  comes 


THE     FINANCIAL     CRISIS.  555 

to  pass  that  the  best  and  ablest  men  are  sometimes  forced  into 
positions  where  they  can  only  extricate  themselves  by  the 
sacrifice  of  all  their  means.  And  thus  it  happens  that  failure 
of  confidence  in  business  circles  draws  after  it  results  the  most 
disastrous  to  the  entire  community.  Thus  the  wheels  of  com- 
merce are  for  a  time  arrested  ;  the  hammer  of  the  artizan  lies 
silent  by  the  anvil ;  the  hum  of  a  joyous  and  busy  people 
gives  way  to  the  tears  of  sorrow  and  the  listlessness  of  a  forced 
idleness  ;  trouble  sits  upon  the  faces  of  multitudes,  as  in  the 
presence  of  some  great  bereavement ;  the  mighty  heart  of  the 
city  throbs  fearfully  ;  while  the  future  looks  so  dark  and 
gloomy  that  the  depressed  spirit  seeks  in  vain  therein  the  con- 
solation of  hope. 

My  friends,  have  I  drawn  an  unreal  picture  ?  Thousands 
in  this  city  have  sat  for  this  portrait,  and  can  attest  the  fidel- 
ity of  the  likeness.  Never  since  we  were  a  city  has  there  been 
80  extensive  a  breaking  down  of  public  confidence  in  the  busi- 
ness relations  of  this  community  as  we  have  witnessed  in  the 
last  few  weeks.  The  storm  of  '37, 1  am  assured,  only  touched 
with  its  outer  circle  this  then  young  city  ;  but  this  has  burst 
upon  us  in  all  its  fury,  and,  if  Grod  arrest  it  not,  it  will  not 
stop  until  it  has  struck  a  blow  at  our  prosperity  the  sad 
effects  of  which  a  score  of  years  can  hardly  repair. 

The  question  which  presses  upon  us  is  just  this  :  What 
can  we  do  to  mitigate  the  evil,  or  arrest  its  further  progress  ? 

It  is.  obvious  you  can  not  by  any  mere  resolutions  create 
public  confidence.  It  is  not  a  thing  to  be  forced.  The  fail- 
ure of  it  is  the  result  of  causes  various  and  combined,  acting 
for  a  long  period. 

It  is  not  merely  speculation,  nor  over- trading,  nor  over- 
im|)ortation,  nor  extravagant  living,  nor  the  fearful  drouth  of 
the  last  season,  nor  usury,  nor  bad  legislation  alone  that  has 
produced  so  wide-spread  a  destruction  of  confidence^,  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  so  many  and  so  disastrous  failures.  It  is 
rather  the  combination  of  these  things,  which,  helping  each 
other,  have  at  length  issued  in  this  sad  result.  The  Ohio  is 
never  lifted  to  a  flood  height  by  the  rise  of  a  single  one  of  its 


556 


OCCASIONAL     SEKMONS. 


tributaries.  There  must  be  a  combination  of  these,  a  general 
swelling  in  them  all,  to  raise  its  waters  over  its  banks.  You 
can  not  by  any  process  at  once  arrest  it  or  bank  it  in.  And 
you  can  not,  in  any  way  that  I  know  of,  at  once  arrest  the 
failure  of  confidence,  and  at  once  inspire  it  again  in  the 
community.  But  must  we  therefore  do  nothing  ?  Let  us 
see  : 

1.  It  is  in  your  power  to  judge  charitably  and  not  to  ag- 
gravate the  general  distress  by  general  denunciations.  Bene- 
volence, the  handmaid  of  all  true  public  confidence,  condemns 
the  harsh  and  censorious  judgment  which,  in  the  visitation  of 
a  personal  loss,  or  the  general  excitement  attending  such  a 
state  of  things,  men  are  forced  to  pass  upon  each  other.  The 
most  scrupulous  honesty  is  often  not  proof  against  the  assaults 
of  indiscriminating  passion.  The  longest  career  of  integrity 
fortified  by  time,  and  an  example  singularly  blameless  if  it 
happens  to  be  arrayed  for  the  time  in  seeming  ojDposition  to 
their  interest,  is  not  sufficient  to  lift  its  possessor  above  the 
most  unjust,  most  libelous  accusations  of  those  who  suffer  the 
loss. 

Now,  we  are  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  adoption  of  an 
erroneous  policy  is  far  from  arguing  a  bad  nature  ;  that  the 
ablest  financiers  are  subject  to  mistakes,  simply  because  they 
are  not  infallible,  and  that  with  the  firmest  integiity  there 
may  be  error  in  policy.  It  does  not  become  us  in  the  hour 
of  suftering  to  condemn  one  man  or  set  of  men  for  that  which 
in  the  times  of  prosperity  almost  all  engaged  in,  or  to  wliich 
we  ourselves  contributed  as  really  as  those  whom  we  condemn. 
We  hear  men  just  at  this  time  loud  in  their  condemnation  of 
the  principle  of  paying  depositors  interest,  and  attributing  to 
this  evil  root  a  vast  deal  of  the  mischief  which  has  come  upon 
us.  Well,  if  you  condemn  the  principle  did  you  never  accept 
the  interest  ?  And  have  you  not  made  it  a  condition  of  the 
employment  of  your  means,  and  so  forced  the  adoption  of  it 
and  helped  to  maintain  the  tiling  you  now  deprecate  ?  Thou 
that  judges t  another,  dost  thou  the  same  ?  I  mention  this 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  readiness  with  which 


THE     FINANCIAL     CRISIS.  557 

men  are  apt  to  condemn  in  others  the  things  which  they 
themselves  approbate  in  other  circumstances. 

We  are  not  to  forget  that  it  sometimes  happens,  in  times 
like  these,  that  men  fall,  not  from  any  fault  of  theirs,  nor 
from  any  wrong  judgment,  hut  in  consequence  of  that  general 
failure  of  public  confidence  which  sun-ounds  them  like  the 
deadly  simoon  of  the  desert.  They  fall  because  others  fall ; 
they  fall  because  in  the  conduct  of  business  they  must  be  in 
connection  with  others  who  in  their  ruin  drag  them  down  ; 
and  it  ill  becomes  any  in  such  case  to  indulge  in  harsh  judg- 
ments, in  susijicions  of  bad  motives,  and  in  those  denuncia- 
tions which  only  aggravate  the  public  excitement  and  enhance 
the  failure  of  public  confidence.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  apolo- 
gize for  dishonesty,  to  shield  the  fraudulent,  to  extenuate 
manifest  guilt.  But,  before  you  launch  your  thunders,  be 
sure  your  victim  is  not  simply  unfortunate,  lest  injured  inno- 
cence accuse  you  at  a  liigher  bar,  in  an  hour  when  you  your- 
self will  need  to  ask  for  divine  mercy. 

If  ever  men  should  sympathize  together  and  judge  chari- 
tably of  each  other  it  is  at  such  a  time  as  this.  It  is  for  you 
to  make  all  needful  allowance  for  the  circumstances  in  which 
business  men  are  placed.  It  is  for  you  to  exercise  that  broth- 
erly kindness  which  in  times  of  adversity  mitigates  half  its 
severity,  and  wonderfully  assists  in  banishing  altogether  its 
hateful  presence. 

2.  It  is  the  injunction  of  religion  as  well  as  the  dictate  of 
a  truly  sound  policy  (they  are  never,  indeed,  to  be  separated) 
that  creditors  should  exercise  forbearance  toward  their  debt- 
ors. It  may  be  that  there,  are  men  in  the  community  so  sel- 
fish, so  base  as  to  plead  the  hardness  of  the  times  against  their 
creditors,  when  the  only  reason  for  their  non-fulfillment  of 
their  engagements  is  the  hardness  of  their  hearts— whose 
means  are  amply  sufficient,  but  whose  avarice  catches  at 
every  plausible  excuse  for  deferring  a  just  settlement.  Of 
such  men  I  do  not  now  speak.  Such  men  are  strangers  not 
merely  to  religious,  but  the  common  honesty  and  justice  ;  but 
there  are  multitudes  who  can  not  at  once  meet  their  eno;a"re- 


558  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

ments  without  an  enormous  sacrifice — a  sacrifice  whicli  often 
is  equivalent  to  their  temporary  ruin.  There  are  those  men 
whose  honesty  is  proverbial,  whose  characters  are  of  shining 
excellence,  whose  means  are  double  their  liabilities,  or  fully 
sufficient  to  meet  them  when  time  is  allowed  them  rightly  to 
arrange  them,  who  yet  find  themselves  utterly  unable  at  once 
to  meet  their  acknowledged  indebtedness.  In  this  wide-spread 
trouble  their  debtors  have  failed  them,  and  they,  in  turn,  are 
for  the  time  compelled  to  sacrifice  all  they  possess,  or  fail  to 
meet  their  engagements  at  the  set  time.  Now,  what  will  be 
the  course  of  creditors  in  such  a  case  ?  We  know  what  one 
man  did  in  the  parable  which  is  recorded  in  Luke  :  when  his 
master  had  forgiven  him  his  debt  he  went  out  and  found  one 
of  his  fellow-servants  which  owed  him  an  hundred  pence,  and 
he  laid  hands  on  him,  and  took  him  by  the  throat,  saying, 
"  Pay  me  that  thou  owest."  And  his  fellow-servant  fell 
down  at  his  feet  and  besought  him,  saying,  have  i^atience  with 
me  and  I  will  pay  thee  all  ;  and  he  would  not,  but  went  and 
cast  him  into  prison  till  he  should  pay  the  debt.  This  is  one 
way  of  exacting  the  debt,  but  it  is  a  way  to  which,  I  am  per- 
suaded, you  will  not  readily  resort.  Have  patience  and  I  will 
pay  thee  all,  is  the  urgent  answer  of  many  a  debtor.  At 
these  times  a  generous  extension  is  the  best  policy  for  all.  It 
enables  men  to  look  about  them.  It  gives  them  an  oppor- 
tunity to  render  their  real  means  available.  It  maintains 
their  position  in  business,  and  prepares  them  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  returning  prosperity.  By  such  Christian  forbear- 
ance, in  these  cases,  creditors  will  not  usually  be  losers,  while 
in  many  cases  men  of  great  probity  are  saved  from  commer- 
cial ruin.  Indeed,  at  such  times,  so  urgent  and  necessary  as 
this  policy  seems  to  be,  that  the  State  has  occasionally  seen 
fit  to  authorize  it  in  the  case  of  its  own  banks,  in  order  to 
save  them  from  ruin  and  the  community  from  wide-spread 
disaster. 

3.  At  such  a  time  as  this  much  may  be  done  by  those  to 
whom  Grod  has  intrusted  riches  to  alleviate  the  pressure  and 
mitigate  the  severity  of  financial  trials.     Men  to  whom  God 


THE     FINANCIAL     CRISIS.  559 

has  intrusted  large  possessions  are  charged  by  him  to  hold 
them  for  the  good  of  men.  Wealth  was  never  given  to  bless 
us  alone,  or  to  develop  a  huge  selfishness,  or  set  us  apart  from 
all  sympathy  with  the  sorrows  and  trials  of  our  fellow-men  ; 
and  there  are  few  things  in  this  world  more  truly  pitiable  than 
that  of  a  man  gloating  over  treasures  he  can  never  use  for 
himself,  and  never  expects  to  use  for  any  direct  objects  of 
public  beneficence  ;  all  the  while  insensible  to  those  around 
him,  and  hardening  his  heart  against  the  claims  of  suffering 
humanity.  Wealth  was  given  for  noble  purposes,  and  it  must 
be  used  for  such  purposes,  or  it  becomes  a  far  deeper  curse 
than  poverty  ever  can  be  ;  and  especially  in  times  like  these, 
when  credit  is  every  thing  ;  a  credit  based  upon  actual  pos- 
sessions ;  it  is  in  the  power  of  such  men  to  use  their  credit  to 
lift  up  the  burdened  and  assist  in  carrying  the  whole  com- 
munity through  such  a  crisis  as  is  now  upon  us.  There  are 
men  in  this  city  a  dozen  of  whom,  if  they  should  set  them- 
selves about  it,  could  give  public  confidence  to  our  banking 
institutions,  and  enable  them  to  give  a  real  and  yet  safe  as- 
sistance to  the  whole  suifering  community.  I  do  not  pretend 
to  dictate  the  ways  in  which  this  may  be  done.  The  sugges- 
tion may  seem  absurd,  or  absurdly  philanthropical  to  some, 
but  sure  I  am  that  where  there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way  ;  sure 
I  am  that  men  whose  credit  is  good  for  hundreds  of  thousands, 
if  they  would  now  realize  how  noble  a  thing  it  is  to  use  it  so 
as  to  help  their  fellow-men  in  this  time  of  their  distress, 
yea,  if  they  did  but  feel  as  when  they  stand  before  the  bar  of 
Grod,  I  doubt  not  but  that  they  would  bestir  themselves  to 
effect  so  admirable  a  work.  When,  a  few  months  ago,  a 
steamer  on  our  southern  coast  was  in  distress  and  peril,  one 
vessel  after  another  hove  in  sight,  but  soon  left  her  to  her 
fate.  At  length  a  captain  of  another  sort  laid  his  vessel 
alonrrside  of  her,  and  thou}2;h  the  wind  whistled  and  the  storm 
beat  uj)on  them,  and  prevented  immediate  approach,  yet, 
above  the  sound  of  the  waves  and  the  roar  of  the  tempest, 
his  voice  was  heard  cheering  the  inmates  of  the  vessel,  and 
assuring  them  that  he  would  remain  by  them  till  all  were 


560  OCCASIONAL     SEEMONS. 

saved.  And  when  he  had  accomplished  that  object  how  did 
the  generous  and  heroic  deed  waken  the  praise  of  a  grateful 
nation.  And  must  the  sea  alone  be  the  scene  of  noble  self- 
sacrifices  in  behalf  of  our  distressed  humanity  ?  Are  there 
no  men  among  us  able  to  lay  themselves  alongside  some  of 
our  storm-tossed  vessels,  and  give  relief  to  their  suffering  in- 
mates ?  I  know,  indeed,  that  in  all  this  I  go  against  the 
ordinary  maxims  of  trade,  but  for  all  that,  I  believe  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  Bible  is  better  than  all  such  maxims  ;  that 
where  it  rebukes  the  profane  spirit  which  cries,  "  am  I  my 
brother's  keeper  ?"  where  it  commends  the  good  Samaritan 
for  his  act  of  kindness  to  the  unfortunate  ;  where  it  gives  us 
an  example  of  self-sacrifice  for  the  good  of  the  world,  in  the 
person  of  our  Eedeemer,  it  inculcates  the  only  spirit  and 
practice  which,  in  the  family  or  on  'Change,  in  social  or  com- 
mercial life,  is  at  all  adequate  to  alleviate  the  sins  of  man- 
kind and  meet  the  responsibilities  which  press  upon  us  in  re- 
gard to  our  fellow-men.  And  when  I  say  that,  at  a  time  like 
this,  men  of  large  resources  and  credit  have  great  responsibili- 
ties resting  ui^on  them  to  use  them  not  so  as  to  swell  their 
coffers  with  the  wrecks  of  others'  fortunes  and  prey  upon  the 
misfortunes  of  their  fellows,  but  to  aid  wisely  and  effectually 
the  honest  and  the  faithful  who  need  it.  I  do  but  reiterate 
the  great  principles  of  practical  benevolence  which  are  every- 
where inculcated  in  this  book,  and  by  which  at  length  you 
and  I  will  be  tried  before  the  great  tribunal. 

4.  At  such  a  time  as  this  it  is  especially  important  that 
business  mi  n  sympathize  with  and  stand  by  each  other.  The 
principle  of  association  is  one  of  tremendous  influence.  It 
carries  our  cle3tions — it  builds  up  railroads — it  combines  the 
resources  and  energies  of  thousands  in  some  one  great  work. 
It  distinguishes  the  Church,  which  is  merely  an  association 
of  Christians — it  characterizes  the  State  as  being  an  associa- 
tion for  still  another  object.  Now  I  am  greatly  mistaken  if 
this  same  principle  ought  not  to  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
state  of  things  in  which  we  now  find  ourselves.  Instead  of 
standing;  alone,  whv  do  not  our  merchants,  manuflicturers, 


THE     FINANCIAL     CRISIS.  561 

and  men  of  business  meet  and  consult  together,  and  lay  their 
plans  to  sustain,  as  far  as  in  them  lies,  every  one  of  their  num- 
ber who  can  show  an  actual  solvency  ?  Is  it  possible  that  in 
a  body  of  men  so  large  as  this,  distinguished  by  enterprise,  by 
talent,  by  comprehensive  views  to  a  degree  unsurpassed  in  our 
country,  there  can  not  be  found  practical  wisdom  enough  to 
devise  some  measure  of  relief,  or  unity  of  feeling  enough  to 
adopt  such  measures,  or  energy  of  purpose  sufficient  to  carry 
them  into  execution  ?  Let  every  man  feel  that  his  sympa- 
thies are  worth  something,  that  his  forbearance  and  good  will 
are  of  value,  that  his  mind  will  give  aid  that  will  be  a  light 
in  the  midst  of  darkness.  If,  instead  of  struggling  each  one 
for  himself,  you  come  together  as  men  whose  interests  are  one 
and  whose  symi:)athies  are  one,  if  those  who  feel  strong  will 
lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  weak,  to  receive  the  same  help 
when  their  time  of  weakness  comes,  if  Avhen  a  brother's  sail 
begins  to  shake  in  the  wind  you  should  give  him  a  helping 
hand,  then  might  you  greatly  assist  in  alleviating  the  pres- 
sure of  commercial  embarrassments,  and  fulfill  that  right 
royal  law,  "  Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  have  them  do  unto 
you."  If  there  should  be  those  who  seek  to  grow  rich  out  of 
the  misfortunes  of  "their  fellow-men — those  who  rejoice  in  the 
earthquake  that  shatters  the  dwellings  of  others,  because  out 
of  the  fallen  stones  they  may  construct  their  own,  then  would 
you  rebuke  a  selfishness  so  marked  and  vile,  and  hold  up  a 
pattern  of  another  spirit. 

5.  There  is  no  little  responsibility  at  all  times  resting  on 
the  conductors  of  tlie  public  press  ;  but  when  there  is  suspicion 
abroad  and  the  ear  of  thousands  ready  to  hear  the  least  whis- 
per of  an  evil  report,  it  becomes  them  to  weigh  well  their  sen- 
tences, and  beware  lest  in  sheer  thoughtlessness  they  aggra- 
vate this  fearful  evil.  The  man,  who  uses  his  power  to  create 
causeless  susj)icions,  scatters  firebrands,  arrows,  and  death. 
The  press  is  instinct  with  life  and  power,  and,  wisely  con- 
ducted, it  may  do  much  to  restore  confidence  and  heal  the 
wounds  of  which  society  so  freely  bleeds. 

6.  It  becomes  us  to  be  hopeful  respecting  the  future.    God 


562  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

has  given  us  a  wonderful  land,  embosoming  all  the  varied  ma- 
terial resources  which  are  at  all  essential  to  national  prosperity. 
He  has  given  us  free  institutions,  which  admit  the  fullest  and 
largest  development.  We  are  not  where  we  are  compelled  to 
lick  the  dust  under  the  imj)crious  tread  of  a  fellow  man.  Our 
chains  are  only  those  which  are  spiritual  and  mental.  Our 
troubles  can  have  but  one  lower  source,  and  that  is  depravity. 
Our  embarrassments  spring  from  our  folly  and  the  direct  visita- 
tion of  God.  But  to  make  us  wise  he  has  given  us  the  Bible  and 
Christian  institutions.  He  has  planted  the  Sabbath  and  the 
ministry  and  the  Church  on  the  soil.  He  means  not  to  de- 
stroy us,  but  to  purify  us  ;  he  designs  not  to  curse  us,  but  to 
bless  us,  in  rectifying  our  errors  and  giving  a  better  direction 
to  our  energies.  Our  business  and  commercial  relations  are, 
of  necessity,  in  a  sense  self-adjusting.  The  evil  that  is  in  our 
course  works  itself  out  at  length,  and  at  a  large  cost  of  feel- 
ing teaches  us  a  lesson  we  would  otherwise  be  slow  to  learn. 
We  are,  as  a  nation  and  as  a  city,  necessarily  experimenters 
in  many  things.  The  failure  of  one  scheme  is  but  a  transient 
embarrassment.  The  energy,  the  enterprise,  the  vital  power, 
the  magic  skill,  are  still  here,  destined  to  work  on  and  tri- 
umph over  every  obstacle  but  one,  and  that  one  is  vice.  Vice 
will  ruin  us.  Vice — unbelief,  which  is  its  father — reckless 
living,  which  is  its  step-father,  may  eat  out  the  heart  of  om 
Saxon  and  Christian  energy.  But  as  yet  this  is  not  fully  the 
case.  There  is  virtue  and  morality  and  religion  here,  although 
I  shall  soon  show  you  that  there  are  processes  going  on  which, 
unchecked,  would  destroy  them  utterly.  There  is  skill  and 
science  and  enterprise  here  in  large  combinations.  We  are  the 
heart  of  one  of  the  finest  countries  the  sun  shines  upon — we 
are  in  communication,  commercial,  religious  and  scientific, 
with  every  part  of  our  countr}^  We  have,  I  verily  believe,  a 
great,  a  glorious  destiny  to  fulfill.  These  financial  troubles 
will  force  our  energies  into  some  new  channels.  They  may 
modify  our  plans  and  modes  of  action ;  but  they  can  not  long 
retard  or  depress  the  enterprise  and  material  prosperity  of  this 
city.    There  will  be  distress  this  winter  among  all  classes,  and 


>f 


THE     FINANCIAL     CRISIS.  563 

it  is  specially  our  duty  to  organize  for  the  relief  of  the  poor, 
or  put  new  life  into  already  existing  organizations.  But,  with 
all  this  before  us,  brighter  days  are  coming.  Sorrow  endure th 
for  a  night,  but  joy  cometh  in  the  morning.  Many  a  mer- 
chant— many  a  young  man,  is  learning  a  lesson  now  that  will 
prepare  him  to  go  forward  in  a  diiferent  spirit  and  lay  the 
foundations  more  securely  for  a  competency  of  this  world's 
goods.  It  has  been  said  that  no  man  ultimately  succeeds  in 
business  who  has  not  failed  once.  And  although,  taken  in  its 
largest  meaning,  it  is  false,  yet  it  is  true  in  its  spirit — it  is 
1  rue  that  trials  and  adversity  in  business  often  make  individ- 
uals and  communities  wise  and  cautious,  and  so  guides  them 
to  ultimate  success.  Look  up,  then,  ye  who  have  been  cast 
down  !     Hope  on — ^hope  ever  ! 

I  have  thus  far  dwelt  upon  the  duties  which  this  crisis  de- 
volves upon  us  in  respect  to  each  other.  I  have  sought  to 
speak  a  word  of  hoj^e  and  encouragement,  knowing  well  how 
often  we  need  each  other's  kindly  symj)athy  and  generous  for- 
bearance ;  how  often  a  word  fitly  spoken  will  raise  the  courage 
of  the  desponding,  and  nerve  him  to  unwonted  efforts  in  over- 
coming difficulties.  But  I  should  be  untrue  to  you,  and  faith- 
less to  ray  own  high  trust  as  God's  minister,  if  I  were  to  stop 
here,  if  I  were  not  to  attempt  to  carry  your  mind  away  from 
this  scene  of  earthly  trial  to  that  infinite  One  who  ruleth 
among  the  armies  of  heaven  and  the  inhabitants  of  earth. 
Adversity  comes  not  upon  us  without  a  purpose.  It  falls 
upon  nations  and  upon  individuals  by  the  divine  direction, 
with  the  intent  of  working  in  us  those  moral  changes  through 
which  alone,  as  individuals,  we  can  be  truly  hapjjy,  or  as  a  na- 
tion, permanently  and  healthfully  pros2oerous.  Adversity  is 
designed  of  God  to  teach  us  our  dependence  and  our  guilt.  In 
prosperity,  the  spirit  of  pride  is  often  wonderfully  developed. 
We  seem  to  think  all  things  possible  to  us,  because  as  yet  we 
have  carried  our  plans  into  successful  execution.  We  feel  as 
if  we  had  our  hand  upon  the  very  springs  of  fortune.  We 
glory  in  our  might,  in  our  wisdom,  in  our  prospects.  Then 
we  forget  God  ;  we  exclaim,  is  not  this  great  Babylon  that  I 


564  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

have  built  by  the  might  of  my  power,  and  for  the  glory  of 
my  majesty  !  We  make  our  j)rosperity  an  excuse  for  self- 
indulgence  and  extravagance.  We  learn  to  contemn  the  jioor, 
and  disregard  the  cries  of  the  oppressed.  We  are  too  delicate 
and  too  privileged  to  bear  the  cross  for  Christ.  We  grow 
madly  in  love  with  the  vanities  of  time,  and  count  the  treas- 
ures of  this  life,  the  glory  and  the  renown  that  comes  from 
man,  as  higher  in  value  than  the  favor  and  love  of  the  great 
Jehovah.  Then  comes  the  stern,  yet  no  less  blessed  teacher, 
adversity.  It  dries  up  the  sources  of  our  power  ;  it  withers 
the  "  gourd"  of  our  pride  ;  it  demonstrates  our  utter  feeble- 
ness ;  it  compels  us  to  recognize  our  dependence  upon  the  in- 
finite Lord. 

Then,  too,  we  are  taught  our  guilt  as  well  as  our  depend- 
ence. How  monstrous  a  thing  it  is  that  the  creature  should 
swell  with  pride,  should  cast  oif  the  fear  of  God  and  restrain 
prayer  !  How  wicked  it  is  for  him  to  despise  the  divine  favor 
and  the  divine  mercy  in  Jesus  Christ !  Adversity  forces  re- 
flection ;  it  brings  us  face  to  face  with  our  Maker ;  it  com- 
pels us  to  feel  that  we  are  little,  and  God  alone  is  truly  great 
— that  we  are  sinful,  and  God  alone  is  truly  good.  As  indi- 
viduals and  as  a  joeople  we  are  vary  guilty.  If  you  enter  the 
Church,  what  worldly  conformity  without  scruple  do  you  find 
among  those  whose  Master  has  expressly  enjoined  upon  them, 
"Be  not  conformed  to  this  Avorld  !"  How  much  is  lavished 
in  dress  and  luxury  and  midnight  follies  ;  how  little  is  really 
consecrated  to  Jesus  and  his  cause  !  What  eagerness  is  there 
to  gain  this  world  for  themselves  and  children,  how  little  are 
they  concei'ned  to  gain  heaven  and  Christ  !  How  easily  are 
enormous  sums  lavished  in  building  and  public  enterprises  for 
time  ;  how  hardly  are  a  few  hundred,  gathered  to  plant  new 
churches,  and  carry  forward  the  evangelization  of  the  multi- 
tudes that  know  not  the  gospel  !  Look  at  the  profanation 
of  the  Sabbath  !  Go,  stand  at  the  post  office  of  a  Sabbath 
morning,  and  witness  the  crowd  thronging  there.  Who  are 
they?  It  shames  me  to  hear,  and  it  makes  me  blush  to  speak 
the  fact,  that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  largely  represented  there. 


THE     FINANCIAL     CRISIS.  565 

See  how  intemperance  marches  forward,  unchecked,  unrebuked! 
Magistrates,  faithless  to  their  trust,  suffer  the  laws  to  be  tram- 
pled under  foot.  Monc)^  enough  is  yearly  worse  than  lost  in 
this  horrible  traffic,  this  direct  demoralization  of  society,  this 
undermining  of  the  virtue  and  strength  and  intelligence  of  the 
body  politic^  this  fountain  of  wretchedness  and  degradation 
and  death  in  families — money  enough  is  expended  yearly  in 
this  dreadful  work  to  have  carried  this  whole  business  com- 
munity safely  through  the  crisis  of  suffering  now  upon  it,  and 
brought  it  forth  erect  and  healthful.  Think  you,  my  friends, 
Grod  will  not  avenge  these  ignorant,  debased,  brutalized  chil- 
dren, these  weeping  wives,  these  parents'  hearts  torn  with  an- 
guish over  sons  debauched  and  ruined  by  the  trafficker  in 
alcohol,  aided  by  the  connivance  of  magistrates,  and  abetted 
by  unscrupulous  and  unprincipled  politicians  ? 

See  how  unblushingly  infidelity  enters  our  public  lecture 
rooms,  and  even  goes  up  into  the  pulpits  of  churches  at  least 
nominally  Christian  !  The  subtle  poison  of  unbelief  is  thrown 
into  the  atmosphere  which  multitudes  breathe  ;  newspai)ers 
carry  it  to  our  very  firesides  ;  literary  associations,  under  the 
pretense  of  liberality,  invite  hither  the  most  skillful  assailants 
of  Christianity,  to  give  them  a  position  from  which  they  may 
with  greatest  effect  attempt  the  destruction  of  that  simple 
faith  in  God's  truth  which  alone  is  able  to  cheer  us  in  life, 
give  a  solid  foundation  to  public  faith,  purify  public  morals, 
and  bless  men  with  the  hope  of  immortal  life. 

The  youth  of  our  city,  amid  the  seductions  of  our  past 
prosperity,  are  trained  in  all  the  dissipation  of  fashionable  life; 
wearh,  luxury,  pleasure,  are  made  the  chief  end  of  man ;  the 
true  glory  and  nobility  of  man  are  lost  sight  of  in  the  round 
of  nightly  gayety;  the  service  of  God,  a  Christian's  hope,  are 
counted  worthless  beside  the  gewgaws  of  the  hour. 

Meanwhile  religion  languishes  ;  the  cross  ceases  to  be  borne, 
and  the  crown  ceases  to  attract ;  here  and  there  a  blessed  Sab- 
bath school  teacher  seeks  to  penetrate  the  mass  of  ignorance 
that  envelops  multitudes  ;  here  and  there  a  Christian  cries 
unto  God  for  his  Spirit  to  bless  the  peoj^le. 


566  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

Attending  all  this,  crime  multiplies,  and  enormous  taxes 
pay  the  price  of  our  ungodliness  and  neglect. 

Verily  there  is  guilt  in  the  palace  and  guilt  in  the  hovel 
— guilt  in  the  banqueting  hall  and  guilt  in  the  petty  bar-room 
— guilt  in  the  ijublic  lecture  room  and  guilt  in  the  church — 
guilt  in  the  family  and  guilt  in  society.  We  have  made  haste 
to  be  rich,  but  we  thought  not  of  the  snare  ;  we  have  nour- 
ished our  hearts  as  in  the  day  of  slaughter,  but  we  have 
thouo'ht  not  of  the  end.     And  now  God  has  come  and  de- 

O 

monstrated  to  us  how  that  which  men  most  set  their  hearts 
upon,  that  root  of  all  evil,  may  vanish  in  an  hour.  Five 
years  ago  the  pestilence  alighted  among  us  and  decimated  the 
population  of  this  city.  Then  thousands  vowed  to  live  a  new 
life  ;  then,  in  their  terror  and  distress,  multitudes  resolved,  if 
they  were  spared,  they  would  forsake  their  sins.  But  when 
the  hand  of  God  was  lifted  off  from  us  and  the  monster  had 
ceased  to  devour,  the  young  inebriate  went  back  to  the  wine 
cup,  the  frightened  maiden  resorted  again  to  the  dance  and 
the  revel,  the  startled  politician  gave  himself  up  to  the  j)ur- 
suit  of  popular  flivor,  the  worldly  professor  forgot  his  transient 
seriousness,  the  matron  again  plunged  into  display  and  the 
frippery  of  earthly  adornment,  while  the  men  of  business  rushed 
after  this  world  as  if  death  were  a  dream,  and  silver  and  gold 
were  life's  only  treasure. 

And  now  God  has  come  in  another  form  ;  he  has  touched 
the  apple  of  your  eye — he  has  made  the  city  stagger  and  reel 
like  a  drunken  man  ;  he  has  shown  us  how  thoroughly  we 
have  been  intoxicated  with  the  Circean  cup  ;  he  has  troubled 
hearts  and  made  faces  pale  that  the  march  of  pestilence 
neither  troubled  nor  changed.  He  has  come  to  us,  combining 
all  these  various  causes  of  commercial  embarrassment,  and 
launching  them  in  one  bolt  upon  the  nation  and  upon  us. 

What  wilt  thou  do,  0,  man  of  the  world,  when  God  takes 
away  thy  jewels  ?  What  wilt  thou  do,  0,  young  man,  when 
God  reveals  to  thee  the  uncertainty  of  earthly  possessions  ? 
What  wilt  thou  do,  0,  infidel,  when  God  takes  away  thy  only 
sources  of  hope  and  consolation  ?     0,  ye  thoughtless  crowd. 


THE     FINANCIAL     CEISIS.  567 

who  Imrry  with  such  infatuated  eagerness  along  the  broad 
road  to  perdition,  will  ye  not  recognize  the  hand  of  God  ? 
will  ye  not  see  your  guilt  in  despising  his  laws  ?  will  ye  not 
now  begin  to  seek  for  those  treasures  which  will  not  fail  you, 
that  inheritance  which  will  never  fade  away  ? 

And  if  ever  there  was  a  time  for  Christians  to  work  and 
pray  in  hope  for  the  souls  of  men,  this  is  that  time.  Ye  who 
are  afflicted  come  and  give  yourselves  afresh  to  Hun,  and  go 
forth  to  commend  your  Saviour  to  your  lost  fellow-men. 
Now  is  the  time  for  prayer — this  is  the  .time  for  God's  people 
to  show  the  world,  even  when  their  possessions  are  swept  from 
them,  the  preciousness  of  a  religion  priceless  as  the  blood  of 
Jesus,  and  fadeless  as  eternity  itself.  Let  not  your  heads  be 
bowed  down,  except  as  they  are  bowed  down  in  penitence  and 
prayer, 

"Weep  not  for  the  joys  that  fade, 

Like  evening  lights,  away ; 
For  hopes,  that,  like  the  stars  decayed, 

Have  left  thy  mortal  day ; 
For  clouds  of  sorrow  wUl  depart, 

And  brilliant  skies  be  given ; 
And  tho'  on  earth  the  tear  may  start, 
Yet  bliss  awaits  the  holy  heart. 

Amid  the  bowers  of  heaven. 

Weep  not  for  earthly  pleasures  vanished,  but  weep  that 
you  have  served  Christ  no  better  ;  weep  that  you  have  been 
so  conformed  to  the  world  as  to  encourage  it  in  its  reckless 
and  mad  pursuit  of  folly  ;  weep  for  those  who,  amid  all  God's 
calls,  still  remain  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  bond  of  ini- 
quity. Show  yourselves  indeed  Christians — brothers  and 
friends,  born  for  adversity.  Comfort  the  comfortless  ;  cheer 
the  desj^onding  ;  visit  the  poor  and  the  distressed  ;  carry  the 
gospel  of  peace  to  all  around  you.  Then,  as  religion  revives 
and  advances,  will  a  true  prosperity  come  to  our  city.  For 
although  these  pecuniary  embarrassments  may  soon  pass  away, 
and  pecuniary  prosperity  again  return  to  us,  yet  we  never  can 
be  truly  prosperous — we  never  can  have  a  just  foundation  for 


568  OCCASIONAL     SERMONS. 

public  faitli — we  never  will  have  a  broad  and  pure  morality 
among  us,  until  the  Bible  goes  into  every  family,  until  the 
youth  are  trained  to  believe  its  doctrines  and  practise  its  pre- 
ce])ts,  until  pure  Christianity  has  made  men  feel  themselves 
to  be  something  more  than  brute  machines,  and  destined  t" 
something  higher  than  merely  earthly  enjoyment. 

These  clouds  wliich  hang  over  our  city  so  dense  and  dark, 
my  friends,  will  soon  pass  away  ;  but  there  is  coming  on  an- 
other scene  of  greater  terror  and  grandeur,  when  the  heavens 
shall  be  rolled  up  like  a  scroll,  and  the  elements  shall  melt 
with  fervent  heat,  and  Christ  shall  spread  his  throne  upon 
the  clouds,  and  you  and  I,  and  all  the  innumerable  hosts  of 
Adam's  sons,  will  be  summoned  to  judgment. 

0 1  on  that  day,  that  wrathful  day, 
When  man  to  judgment  wakes  from  clay, 
Be  thou,  0,  Christ,  the  sinner's  stay, 
Tho'  heaven  and  earth  should  pass  away. 


THE     END 


i    wmmM-       !'m\\ 


